Police officer, Buxton man hospitalized after crash in Scarborough

SCARBOROUGH — A collision in Scarborough between a police cruiser and a station wagon left the latter vehicle on its side and sent two people to the hospital.

Police, firefighters and rescuers responded to the crash near the intersection of Spring Street and Gallery Boulevard, according to a news release issued Monday afternoon by the Scarborough Police Department.

Officer Douglas Weed, who was driving the 2012 Dodge Charger cruiser, and the driver of the 1993 Volvo station wagon, Charles Altenbern, 60, of Buxton, were both taken to the hospital with minor injuries, according to police.

The cruiser sustained front-end damage, while the station wagon was described in the police release as “possibly a total loss.”

“According to witnesses, it appears the Volvo made a lefthand turn in front of the cruiser and was struck on the center passenger side,” the release reads, in part. “The crash remains under investigation at this time.”

Weed is at least the second law enforcement officer to be treated at a hospital following a car crash in the Portland area during the past four days. Maine State Police Trooper Jessica Shorey suffered minor neck and back injuries after a vehicle lost control on the slippery roadway Friday morning and slammed into the rear of her stopped cruiser.

Shorey had pulled over in response to two other vehicles that had slid off the road on Interstate 295 southbound near Tukey Bridge in Portland.

: A 1993 station wagon rests on its side after colliding with a Scarborough police cruiser Monday afternoon on Spring Street. The drivers of both vehicles were transported to the hospital with minor injuries, according to police.