AUGUSTA – A Maine game warden was injured Sunday afternoon when the snowmobile he was riding slid into a snowmobile he was pursuing after it had failed to stop for the warden.

Game Warden Jason Luce fractured his right leg after the snowmobile he was pursuing, operated by Daniel Atkinson, 19, of Windham, stalled and stopped suddenly as he tried to elude Luce by turning. The snowmobile Luce was operating slid into it, with Luce’s leg in between them. Atkinson was unhurt.

Luce was pursuing the snowmobiler after Atkinson allegedly skimmed across an open expanse of Little Sebago Lake in Windham. Skimming is the act of operating or attempting to operate a snowmobile on open water. The practice is a Class E crime, and carries a fine of between $100 and $500.

Luce, who was issuing a summons to another snowmobiler at the time, motioned to Atkinson to stop, but, according to Luce, Atkinson failed to do so, and instead sped off at high speed on his 1999 Skidoo 800 MXZ. Luce, who was on foot since his 1995 Skidoo Skandic had ceased to operate, used the snowmobile of the operator he had just summonsed to pursue the fleeing snowmobile. The pursuit lasted only minutes, covering the span of the lake, before the machines collided.

Maj. Greg Sanborn, chief of field operations for the Maine Warden Service, is reviewing the Warden Service’s pursuit policy to determine if Luce acted appropriately.