LEWISTON – A police officer was hurt Wednesday morning when his cruiser was struck while he was stopped at the side of outer Lisbon Street.

Investigators said Officer Robert Ullrich had made a routine traffic stop when his cruiser was struck from behind just after 9 a.m. near Reid Street.

Ullrich suffered rib injuries. He was examined for his injury but was not expected to remain off the force for an extended time.

The identity of the driver whose SUV struck the cruiser was not available Wednesday night. That driver was not hurt, police said.

Investigators said Ullrich had stopped a car for speeding down Lisbon Street moments before the crash. The officer was examining paperwork in his cruiser when he was struck.

Ullrich, an eight-year member of the police force, has worked as a school officer but more recently has been part of the department’s traffic unit.

The cruiser was totaled in the wreck, police said. It was the third police car demolished in a wreck in just over two months.

In mid-August, one police cruiser was destroyed when it was hit head-on by a car driven by a 15-year-old boy who had led police on a chase.

Earlier this month, an officer responding to a report of a brawl outside a nightclub slammed his cruiser into the base of a building.