*** WATCH *** Police catch up to driver who left West Barnstable...

WEST BARNSTABLE – Barnstable Police Officers spent about an hour and a half trying to track down a male driver who left the scene of a single vehicle crash last evening.

Shortly after 9:00 p.m. – Tuesday evening – police and firefighters arrived at the intersection of Route 6A and Maple Street to find a white Toyota Tundra pickup truck with front end damage… disabled in a ditch, after it apparently had just crashed through some decorative fencing and a metal guardrail.

A witness told HN he went out to check on the driver, but the driver had no desire to stick around and chat. For some reason the driver abruptly decided to take off in a westerly direction toward the Town of Sandwich.

Friends of the driver stopped by the scene out of concern for the driver’s well being.

One of the police officers’ main concerns was that the driver may have been suffering a head injury. One of the first officers on scene immediately began tracking the driver with his K9 partner.

The search was inconclusive until officers were informed that Sandwich Police had just received a call of concern about a man hitchhiking further down Route 6A in their town.

Barnstable and Sandwich police officers began searching along Route 6A in Sandwich. Officers were not having any luck until a Barnstable Police Sergeant spotted the driver in the woods near the Agway Store, about 4.5 miles away from the crash scene.

As you will see in the following HN Video, the sergeant pulled up in an unmarked police pickup truck and told the driver to hop in… and the driver cooperated.

The Barnstable patrolman in charge of the crash investigation then met up with the sergeant and driver in the parking lot of a Sandwich tavern. Officers quickly established that the driver was not injured. An investigation also revealed that although the driver had some beer earlier, he was not over the legal limit. Officers believe the young adult male driver simply made a very poor decision out of fear of getting in trouble.

The driver was not taken into custody, but was issued a citation with a criminal charge related to leaving the scene.

No further information available at the time of this report. The following HN Video highlights the crash scene, along with officers searching for and finding the driver that allegedly left the scene.

* All suspects are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

[HN VIDEO – PRESS PLAY]