FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): A Fort Wayne man is in critical condition after the vehicle he was driving slammed into a tree.

Officers with the Fort Wayne Police Department were called to the accident in the 2600 block of Belle Vista Boulevard at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. Once on the scene emergency crews found the vehicle occupied by the driver, 19-year-old Patrick Payton III, which had heavy driver-side damage.

Payton was taken to the hospital in serious condition, but was downgraded to critical condition. A witness told police that Payton’s vehicle was traveling east on Belle Vista Boulevard at a high rate of speed when it appeared to lose control on the snow covered road and hit the tree just behind the driver’s side door.