BRUNSWICK — An 11-year veteran officer narrowly escaped major injury Tuesday when a drunk driver clipped his patrol car on Bath Road.

Shortly before 7:30 p.m., patrol officer Ed Yurek stopped a car across from the Merrymeeting Plaza for a traffic violation. He had returned to his patrol car to run the driver’s information through the state computer records when another car sideswiped the cruiser, running alongside the length of the car and tearing off the side mirror.

“(Yurek) had just closed his door when the second car came by and hit his cruiser, and knocked off the rear view mirror,” said Dep. Chief Marc Hagan. “He was very lucky not to have been seriously hurt.”

The collision occurred directly across from Merrymeeting Plaza. 

Yurek gave chase to the second car, a 2003 Toyota Corolla driven by Katherine Fitzpatrick, 61, of 605 Middlesex Road in Topsham. Yurek “had to use his lights, siren and horn repeatedly” to gain Fitzpatrick’s attention, Hagan said. 

She eventually pulled over on Admiral Fitch Drive in Brunswick Landing, where Yurek arrested her and charged her with operating while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident.

Fitzpatrick made bail later that evening from the police station, and a court date has not yet been issued.

Damage to the cruiser was limited to the driver’s side, door and mirror but an estimate is not yet available. Likewise, Fitzpatrick’s car sustained minimal damage along its passenger side.

“It happens, but it’s not that common,” Hagan said of the near-miss. “We haven’t had anyone hit by someone operating under the influence in a long time.”