FARMINGDALE -- A Chelsea man was arrested and charged with operating under the influence after police said he narrowly missed striking a Maine State Police cruiser and a woman on the sidewalk.

The woman, who was leaning into the cruiser talking to Trooper Chris Rogers about an investigation, Rogers said, jumped off the sidewalk and onto a lawn as a pickup truck drove, on the sidewalk, toward her and the cruiser.

Rogers said he was talking to the woman around 12:05 a.m. Friday on Main Avenue near Webber's Ice Cream when he looked in his rearview mirror and saw a pickup truck swerve up onto the sidewalk, heading right for his cruiser and the woman on the sidewalk.

"It caught my eye, there was an obvious swerve and he drove right towards us on the sidewalk," Rogers said. "I said, 'Look out, look out,' and she jumped off the sidewalk onto the lawn. I put my car in drive and started going forward. I think that movement got his attention and he pulled down off the sidewalk and went around me."

Rogers immediately pulled the truck over and said the driver, Frederick Cooper, 52, of Chelsea, appeared intoxicated. Cooper, Rogers said, failed a field sobriety test and was taken to the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office for a breath test.

Rogers said the test results were a blood alcohol content of .22. The legal limit for OUI in Maine is .08.

Cooper was arrested and charged with OUI, driving to endanger, and summonsed for failure to wear a seat belt and failure to provide proof of insurance. The pedestrian was unhurt in her jump off the sidewalk. "You'd think walking down the sidewalk would be a safe location," Rogers said. "If I hadn't put my car in drive and started going down the road I'm sure he would've hit my cruiser."

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com