DIXFIELD – Police are seeking help from the public in identifying the driver of a sport utility vehicle that forced a Dixfield officer off Route 142 Thursday.

Patrolman Jeffrey Howe was taken by Med-Care Ambulance to Rumford Hospital, where he was treated and released that day, said Chief Richard A. Pickett.

The town’s newest cruiser, however, sustained damage to its frame and a tire rim, and is expected to be out of service for a while.

Pickett said Monday that Howe was patrolling Route 142 when the incident occurred at 4:15 a.m. about a quarter-mile from the Dixfield-Carthage line.

The oncoming vehicle, a dark SUV which was traveling at a high speed, rounded a curve in Howe’s lane, Pickett said.

“Jeff avoided a head-on collision, and went off the right side of the road. I don’t know how he kept the cruiser from rolling over,” Pickett said.

The SUV driver did not stop.

“The driver of the SUV had to have known that the officer went off the road,” he said.

In appealing to the public for help, Pickett said he hopes that anyone who might know of the vehicle or driver will contact police at 562-4517.

“Apparently, they didn’t care whether they killed somebody or not. If Jeff hadn’t have gotten off the road, there probably would have been a fatality based on how fast the SUV was going,” Pickett said.