BRUNSWICK

An 11-year veteran of the Brunswick Police Department narrowly escaped injury Tuesday when an alleged drunken driver clipped his patrol car on Bath Road.

Shortly before 7:30 p.m., patrol officer Ed Yurek stopped a car on a routine traffic violation across from Merrymeeting Plaza.

He had returned to his patrol car when another car sideswiped his cruiser, strafing the length of it 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,” Deputy Police Chief Marc Hagan said. “He was very lucky not to have been seriously hurt.”

Yurek gave chase to the second car, a 2003 Toyota Corolla driven by Katherine Fitzpatrick, 61, of Topsham.

Yurek “had to use his lights, siren and horn repeatedly” to gain Fitzpatrick’s attention, Hagan said.

Police said Fitzpatrick 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. A court date has not yet been issued.

Damage to the cruiser was limited to the driver’s-side door and mirror — a cost estimate for the damage 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,” he said.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com