FARMINGTON – A large, white, pregnant cow was killed Wednesday night on Route 4 after being struck by a Franklin County Sheriff deputy’s police cruiser. A second cow, also struck by the vehicle, suffered a few abrasions, scuff marks and is sore but all right, said cattle owner Edward Tyler.

Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Stephen Charles, 35, was driving the 2003 Ford Crown Victoria cruiser traveling south on Route 4. Deputy Christopher Chase, 32, was a passenger in the car.

Charles crossed the Strong line into Farmington when he rounded a curve just south of Frost’s Antiques and saw a northbound vehicle driven by Sonja Hardy stopped in her lane of traffic. He could see her lights but not the two cows in the middle of the road, Farmington officer Darin Gilbert stated on his police report. The wreck happened at 10:45 p.m.

Chase suffered minor injuries and was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital by LifeStar Ambulance. He was checked and released, said Lt. Niles Yeaton from the Sheriff’s Office Thursday. As far as he knows, both officers were wearing seat belts, he said.

In all, 12 cows broke through their fence, Tyler said. Coyotes might have chased them out, he said, because there were dog-like tracks in the pasture. Two of the 12 cattle were calves.

The first cow struck by the cruiser, Tyler said, went up over the hood and into the windshield. The animal had to be put down because of her injuries.

Tyler said she was a Chianina (pronounced kee-a-nee-na), a breed that originated in Italy, and was full grown and pregnant. He estimated the 2-year-old cow weighed about 1,000 pounds.

He just started raising cows, he said, and estimated that the cow and unborn calf with the feed he has provided would have brought a selling price of around $2,500. The Chianina cows, one of the oldest breeds of cattle in the world, are raised for pulling, like oxen pulls at fairs, and also for meat, he said.

A breed characteristic is their extensive and well-defined muscles with the shoulders, back and rear quarters especially well formed, according to Cattle Today’s Web site.

Tyler said he enjoyed watching his nephew use the cows for pulls at fairs and decided to raise a few along with a few Herefords. He’s so new to the business that he hasn’t realized any profit yet from his work, he said.

Tyler’s wife, Cindy, received a call from a neighbor who had seen cows in the road. Before she could get her boots on, she said, she saw a couple of police cruisers go past her house.

Tyler said he couldn’t understand why the officer, even if he couldn’t see the cows, still didn’t slow down when he saw the lights of a stopped car in the road. He said there are no skid marks in the road to indicate that the officer tried to stop.

Damage to the cruiser was estimated at $5,000.

Under Maine law, Yeaton said, the owner of domestic animals can be held liable for animals in the road.