RUMFORD – Work continues on one of two town police cruisers damaged last week during a foot chase that led to the arrest of a Bay State man wanted by Rhode Island authorities. The other cruiser, which also remains out of service, will be repaired next week.

The cruisers had an estimated $1,500 damage each after reserve Officer Adam Sage failed to shift his cruiser into park before running after a fleeing suspect, Detective Sgt. James Bernard said Wednesday. The cruiser rolled backward down Washington Street and struck Bernard’s parked cruiser.

Early in the morning on April 2, Sage and Bernard responded to a possible burglary in progress on Washington Street. A caller said two men were seen entering a garage. Sage arrived first and stopped a man wearing dark clothing who was leaving the area, Bernard said.

After getting identifying information from Aaron R. Roy, 30, of Westborough, Mass., Sage ran a routine warrant check, which revealed that Roy was wanted on a felony larceny warrant in Rhode Island, Bernard said.

“When Roy heard about the warrant, he asked if he could leave, and Officer Sage said no,” Bernard said. “When he went to exit his cruiser, (Roy) fled on foot. The cruiser was not put in park.”

Bernard said he arrived five minutes after Sage did, parked, and got out to help in time to see Roy flee.

As Sage’s 2008 Crown Victoria rolled backward, Sage unsuccessfully attempted to put the cruiser into park, Bernard said. The car rolled about 50 feet before striking the front of Bernard’s 2004 Chevy Impala cruiser, damaging a tie rod.

The two officers chased after Roy on foot, found him hunkered down behind a building on Washington Street, but Roy took off again before they caught him in deep snow, Bernard said.

Roy was charged with refusal to submit to arrest or detention and the warrant, then taken to Oxford County Jail in Paris.

As of Tuesday, Roy was still in jail, awaiting extradition on Friday, April 11, by Rhode Island police. He will also be arraigned on the new charge on June 3 in Rumford District Court.

In other police matters, a 17-year-old Mexico boy accused of committing sex crimes against a 12-year-old girl in Rumford during 2006 and 2007 will be arraigned on May 8 in Rumford District Court, according to Bernard.

Bernard arrested the youth March 25, charging him with six counts of Class B felony unlawful sexual contact, then released him to his parent. The boy had no previous criminal record, Bernard said.