PERU – Brianna Cote, 17, was seriously injured after falling off the back of a car on Dolloff Street in Peru at about 6 p.m. on Friday.

Cote was riding on the back of a Honda Civic driven by Joseph Longley III, 18, when she fell off the vehicle and struck her head on the pavement, state police said.

“She was in and out of consciousness and has internal bleeding in her skull,” said Trooper Ronald Turnick of the Maine State Police. LifeFlight air ambulance was used to take Cote from Rumford to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

Turnick said Longley was released to his parents and issued a summons for operating without a license and driving to endanger. His court date is set for December.