OXFORD — A Maine State Police cruiser crashed and caught fire off Rabbit Valley Road during a vehicle pursuit Tuesday night.
Sgt. Jonathan Russell and K-9 Preacher were able to escape the vehicle before it was engulfed in flames and ammunition exploded, according to a news release from the Maine Department of Public Safety.
At about 11:11 p.m., Russell was traveling on Route 26 when he turned on his lights and siren to pull over what he described as a mid-2000s Chevrolet or GMC with a “utility body on the back.” The driver is unknown.
Once the truck turned on Rabbit Valley Road, Russell attempted to catch up but “being unfamiliar with the road was unable to negotiate a turn at the bottom of a hill” and the cruiser left the road, landing in a ditch nose down, the release said.
Russell has minor injuries from the airbag and K-9 Preacher was not injured.
State police were assisted on scene by the Norway, Paris, and Oxford police departments and the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office and Oxford Fire and Rescue.
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