HARTFORD – A 26-year-old man was arrested Saturday night after nearly rear-ending an Oxford County Sheriff’s Office cruiser, Deputy George Cayer said.

Thomas E. Lowell, 26, of 226 Sumner Road in Hartford was charged with operating under the influence and driving to endanger.

Cayer said he was patrolling around 10:30 p.m. on Route 219 in Hartford near the intersection with Bear Pond Road when two vehicles approached him at high speed.

He said Lowell was starting to pass him in a 2001 Dodge Ram pickup truck. Cayer said he apparently realized he was passing a cruiser and slammed on the brakes.

“He was real close to my rear bumper,” Cayer said. “I was bracing for the impact.”

Cayer said Lowell’s truck and a newer model Ford F250 appeared to be racing. Both drivers turned around and pulled into the driveway of a residence unrelated to either one, then fled into the woods.

Cayer received assistance from Cpl. Chancey Libby of the Sheriff’s Office as well as Maine State Police Troopers Kyle Tilsley and Tyler Stevenson. Stevenson’s trained dog, Ramos, found Lowell three-quarters of a mile to a mile into the woods after about an hour, Cayer said.

“I would say they did a superior job in the tracking and apprehension of that subject,” Cayer said.

Police were unsuccessful in finding the second driver, whom Cayer described as a heavyset, possibly intoxicated male. He said the Ford was initially impounded, then returned when it was discovered that it was registered to a woman.

Cayer said police have a suspect in the case, but declined to release a name.

Lowell’s blood alcohol level at the Oxford County Jail was .19 percent, more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent. The incident was Lowell’s third operating under the influence charge within the past decade, making the charge a felony.

Lowell was booked at the Oxford County Jail shortly after midnight Sunday and held on $500 bail until released later that day, according to jail officials.