LEWISTON – A man accused of crashing a car into a girl on a bicycle Thursday afternoon is a fugitive wanted in New Jersey.

Lewiston police arrested Miguel Angel Pratt, 46, of 282 Lisbon St., and charged him with leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury and driving with a suspended license.

Around noon on Thursday, police went to Lisbon Street and Webber Avenue where a young girl had been knocked off her bike by a car that turned in front of her.

Police found the girl with scrapes and bruises, but there was no sign of the driver. A man who had been riding in the car, a Hyundai, said the driver initially stopped at the crash site but then drove off.

The girl was treated at the scene by emergency paramedics, and police scoured the area in search of the driver. Roughly two hours after the crash, Sgt. Brian O’Malley tracked down Pratt as he sat on the stoop of his home.

Pratt was taken to the county jail in Auburn; the charges against him were elevated to Class C because of the injury involved. Meanwhile, police ran his information through the records system and learned that Pratt was wanted by police in New Jersey.

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A Lewiston officer called the department in the Garden State to report that the fugitive had been caught. Police in New Jersey plan to send an officer to Maine to take Pratt into custody.

It was not immediately clear in which New Jersey city Pratt was wanted. Warrants had been issued for his arrest for alleged probation violations, police said.

On Friday, he remained at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn.

Police also interviewed the local woman who had loaned Pratt her car. The incident remained under investigation.


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