OXFORD – A Buckfield man struck by a vehicle while walking along Route 26 in a downpour Sunday night was listed in critical condition Tuesday at a Lewiston hospital, Oxford police Sgt. Rickie Jack said.

It was the second time in little more than a year that Larry Sanipas, 49, was hit while walking along a local highway at night in dark clothing, according to published reports.

Before being struck Sunday, Sanipas was at the TD Banknorth 250 race at Oxford Plains Speedway on Route 26. Later that night, he was walking north in a heavy rainstorm, Jack said Tuesday.

“Where he was going at this point, I don’t know,” the sergeant said.

Sometime between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Sanipas was hit by a vehicle and landed in a ditch near the Oxford highway garage. Another pedestrian found him about midnight and called police, Jack said.

“If a pedestrian had not found him, due to the severe weather, he probably would have died due to hypothermia,” Jack said.

He said Sanipas, dressed in dark clothing, suffered severe injuries, mostly to his left side.

Sanipas was taken by ambulance to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, then moved to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

A nursing supervisor at CMMC said Sanipas was listed in critical condition Tuesday night.

The Maine man whose vehicle hit Sanipas turned himself in to Jack on Monday and is expected to be charged, the officer said. His name is being withheld pending further investigation, the sergeant said.

The driver was interviewed and his vehicle has been examined by Jack and an accident reconstructionist, Lt. Michael Dailey of the Paris Police Department.

“He is very cooperative. We’ve been talking every day since this happened, and he realizes that there will be charges filed also,” he said.

The case will be presented to the District Attorney’s Office, Jack said.

On July 5, 2007, Sanipas was dressed in all-black clothing and walking in the southbound lane of Route 4 in Auburn at about 10 p.m. when a minivan driven by a Turner woman hit him, according to Auburn police. A resident of Greene at the time, he was hospitalized in Portland with a variety of injuries.

No charges were filed in that case.