A tow truck pulls up the mangled, burned frame of a state police cruiser Tuesday night after it crashed and burned on Rabbit Valley Road in Oxford. Sgt. Jonathan Russell, who had lights and siren on while pursuing a pickup truck, suffered minor injuries and his K-9 Preacher was unharmed, according to a news release from the Maine Department of Public Safety. submitted photo

OXFORD — A Maine State Police cruiser crashed and caught fire off Rabbit Valley Road during a vehicle pursuit Tuesday night.

Sgt. Jonathan Russell and K-9 Preacher were able to escape the vehicle before it was engulfed in flames and ammunition exploded, according to a news release from the Maine Department of Public Safety.

A burned, mangled frame of a state police cruiser is seen Tuesday night on Rabbit Valley Road in Oxford after it crashed during a vehicle pursuit and caught fire. Sgt. Jonathan Russell, who had lights and siren while pursuing a pickup truck, suffered minor injuries and his K-9 Preacher was unharmed, according to a news release from the Maine Department of Public Safety. submitted photo

At about 11:11 p.m., Russell was traveling on Route 26 when he turned on his lights and siren to pull over what he described as a mid-2000s Chevrolet or GMC with a “utility body on the back.” The driver is unknown.

Once the truck turned on Rabbit Valley Road, Russell attempted to catch up but “being unfamiliar with the road was unable to negotiate a turn at the bottom of a hill” and the cruiser left the road, landing in a ditch nose down, the release said.

Russell has minor injuries from the airbag and K-9 Preacher was not injured.

State police were assisted on scene by the Norway, Paris, and Oxford police departments and the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office and Oxford Fire and Rescue.