New Richmond Police Chief Dave Willoughby said that a bizarre accident Dec. 20 involving an allegedly impaired driver could have seriously injured a police officer, but both the officer and the driver of the other vehicle escaped without injury.

Chief Willoughby said that in the 5 p.m. hour of Dec. 20, Richard Spencer, 56, of New Richmond, backed into a police cruiser after he was pulled over by Officer Josh Frisby.

“This was a very scary situation,” said Chief Willoughby. “If the officer had already exited the cruiser he could have been struck by the vehicle.