SPRINGFIELD, Vt. (AP) – A police officer had to be rescued from his overturned cruiser after accidentally driving over a cliff during a high-speed chase, authorities said.

Windsor Police Officer Scott Symonds was in pursuit of a vehicle on Route 5 late Friday when he drove his four-wheel-drive cruiser up a dirt road that had been blocked off with barriers due to a washout, according to Springfield Police Officer Anthony Leonard.

The 2004 Ford Expedition he was driving went off a 20-foot embankment and crashed onto the banks of the Connecticut River, coming to rest on an unstable ice shelf. He called for help on his police radio, and emergency responders from Springfield, Bellows Falls and Charlestown, N.H., rushed to the scene.

“Not knowing how thick the ice was, there was some concern,” Leonard said. “They wanted to be prepared for all worst-case scenarios.”

Symonds was extricated from the cruiser through the windshield and taken to Springfield Hospital, where he was treated and released.

The cruiser was a total loss.

“He’s very lucky,” Leonard said. “If it had been earlier in the year when the ice wasn’t as thick, he could have been submerged.”

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Information from: Rutland Herald, http://www.rutlandherald.com/

AP-ES-12-30-07 0946EST