MEDFIELD, Mass. (AP) -Two young males who drove off in a piece of heavy equipment stolen from a construction site led a police officer on slow-speed chase Sunday before jumping off the running vehicle, which then ran into the officer’s parked cruiser, police said.

The equipment, called a lull, came to a stop after striking the unoccupied cruiser, which was totaled, police Sgt. John Wilhelmi said.

Police led an unsuccessful search for two young males who fled after the chase. The pursuit began after the two apparently broke through a locked gate at Blake Middle School in Medfield, a suburb southwest of Boston.

A police officer who received a report of the theft spotted the heavy equipment traveling slowly on a county road around 1 a.m. and tried to pull the vehicle over. The two males on board jumped off as the equipment continued traveling unoccupied, scraping against a guardrail at slow speed, Wilhemi said.

The officer drove his cruiser ahead, parked it along the road and ran after the fleeing pair, who eluded the officer. Meanwhile, the heavy equipment ran into the parked cruiser.

Police brought in specially trained dogs to search for the pair in a wooded area that includes marshland. The search was called off around 10 a.m.

AP-ES-07-18-04 1444EDT