PARIS – A new Ford Crown Victoria will soon grace the lot of the Paris Police Department.

The Paris Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday to accept a bid of $21,191 for a 2005 model offered by Augusta Ford.

Competing bids from Ripley and Fletcher Co. of Paris and Charlie’s Waterville Ford Lincoln Mercury came in at $21,560 and $21,900, respectively. The Ripley and Fletcher car was a 2004.

Delivery will be within 30 days, interim Town Manager Elisa Whiteley said Wednesday.

The bidding process for the new cruiser was carried out in two weeks. At a Sept. 28 meeting, Police Chief David Verrier urged board members to expedite the process because he had lost a cruiser in a recent accident.

On Sept. 18, part-time Patrolman Anthony Keach was on his way to assist a Norway police officer when he rounded an S-curve near the Kilgore ball field and came upon two vehicles also traveling east ahead of him, police said.

Although his lights and siren were on, only the first vehicle in the line pulled over to the side of the road. The second pulled left to pass the first, at which point Keach was forced to veer left. He hit the soft shoulder and spun backward into a large pine tree, police said.

No one was injured in the accident, but the 2004 Ford Crown Victoria cruiser that Keach was driving was declared a total loss by the town’s insurance agency, Verrier said.

The town will receive $18,745 from the insurance company for the totaled cruiser, he said.