LEVANT – A Levant teenager, who authorities said was trying to elude family members and police, was struck by a van as he crossed Union Street on a snowmobile Wednesday.

The 16-year-old wasn’t wearing a helmet and was thrown from the snowmobile, hitting the van’s windshield, said Maine State Police Trooper Michael Johnston who is investigating the accident.

The teenager, whose name was not released, suffered a broken ankle and abrasions and lacerations to his face, Johnston said.

Lee White, 74, and his wife, Gertrude, 70, of Exeter were in the van heading toward the center of town and were shaken up but not injured, Johnston said. After it was struck by the van, the snowmobile spun around and hit the cruiser of a Penobscot County Sheriff’s deputy who had been looking for the youth.

Deputy Mark Lloyd said he had stopped by the side of the road and was talking to the teenager’s mother when he saw the snowmobile pull up to the road. Lloyd said he turned on his blue lights in an attempt to get the teenager to stop. The teenager had other plans.

“He looked at me and just gunned it across the road,” Lloyd said Wednesday.

The snowmobile made it only about 3 feet into the road when it was struck by the van, Lloyd said. The accident occurred a few tenths of a mile after Merriman Road and about a half-mile from the C&K Variety store at the bottom of a hill.

Before the accident, Lloyd was called to the family’s Merriman Road home after the boy’s parents called to say that the teenager had been combative.

On the way to the home, Lloyd learned that the teenager had fled on a snowmobile. The boy’s father was in pursuit on another snowmobile.

Because the accident involved a sheriff’s department cruiser, state police troopers were called in to investigate at about 5:15 p.m. To avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, it is the department’s policy is to have other agencies investigate accidents in which its own officers are involved.

State police troopers took measurements along the road. They checked for marks left by the skis of the snowmobile. Lights from a Levant firetruck and from a mobile tripod light illuminated the scene as the afternoon gave way to night.

The accident remains under investigation and charges could be filed, Johnston said. The trooper said the teenager failed to yield to oncoming traffic in a public way as is required.