AUBURN – A police officer was hurt, another man was arrested and traffic was tangled for more than an hour Friday night after back-to-back crashes on Center Street.

Officer Matthew Dailey was taken to the hospital after his cruiser was broadsided while he was responding to a 6:45 p.m. wreck at Center and Turner streets.

Dailey was examined for pain suffered in that wreck and was released from the hospital two hours later.

“He’s real sore, but he’s going to be all right,” said Auburn police Lt. Eric Audette.

The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office was investigating the collisions later Friday, and driver information was not immediately available.

Meanwhile, a man who police said was driving the wrong way on Center Street was charged with drunken driving in connection with the first crash.

Police said the man was driving south in the northbound lane of Center Street when his vehicle slammed into the front of a Buick Century being driven in front of the Irving Mainway, near Union Street Bypass.

The collision forced the Century backward, where it was struck by another Ford F250 traveling behind it. The drivers of those vehicles were not seriously hurt and did not require medical treatment.

With early-evening traffic heavy around Auburn’s busiest intersection, several police officers responded to the crash site. Dailey was trying to move his cruiser from the northbound lane to the southbound lane when the vehicle was struck on the driver’s side by an oncoming car.

The collision blew out the driver’s-side window of the cruiser, and Dailey was tossed around inside, police said. That crash occurred in front of the Big Apple, next to the Irving Mainway.

More officers were sent to the scene to begin an investigation and to help control traffic around the crash site.

The driver suspected of drunken driving was given a field sobriety test in the Irving Mainway parking lot. He was then taken to the police station and booked. His name was not available.

A sheriff’s deputy was called to begin an investigation. It is standard practice for an outside agency to investigate any wreck involving a police cruiser.

For an hour after the crashes, traffic backed up on Turner and Center streets, as well as Union Street Bypass and surrounding roads.

Damage to the cruiser and the Buick Century was extensive. Damage was less severe to the two Ford pickup trucks.

“We can fix the cars,” Audette said. “It’s just fortunate the injuries weren’t more significant.”