Carrie Jones and Shaun Farrar

Apr 19, 2026

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by the Bar Harbor Music Festival.

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BAR HARBOR—A Bar Harbor police officer was involved in a head-on collision on Route 3, Saturday, April 18, while responding to a call where another officer was trying to pull over a speeding driver in a black Subaru Impreza.

The collision happened at approximately 9:20 p.m. just by the Chart Room restaurant in Hulls Cove, a village in Bar Harbor.

A release by the Bar Harbor/Mount Desert Police Department said, “The Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Police Department attempted to stop a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on State Route 3 in the area of Hamilton’s Pond.”

Officer Judson Cake attempted to stop the Subaru, but it did not stop.

Initial emergency scanner traffic said the driver was speeding by School House Hill on Route 3 and then lowered his speed, but was still speeding, through Hulls Cove moments prior to the crash.

“Call an ambulance. He just hit 415, head-on,” Officer Judson Cake said over the scanner.

415 is the call number of Officer Nathan Formby.

“Officer Nathan Formby was in the Hulls Cove area of State Route 3 and was attempting to assist in positively identifying the offending vehicle’s registration plate and getting the vehicle stopped,” the department said.

Officer Formby was responding from the direction of downtown Bar Harbor toward the oncoming pursuit when the vehicles crashed.

“As Officer Formby arrived in the area of Eden Street (State Route 3) and Crooked Road, with his blue emergency lights activated, the vehicle was traveling towards Officer Formby’s location. The vehicle entered the oncoming lane and struck the Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Police cruiser that Officer Formby was operating,” Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Police Chief David Kerns said.

Officer Formby was uninjured. The Subaru’s operator, who has not yet been identified by the department, was taken by ambulance to the MDI Hospital.

At the moment of the impact, a tow truck driver and his passenger had been parked at the Chart Room, was in the process of getting out of the cab, and told the Bar Harbor Story that they had witnessed the crash.

Closely following the accident, the police officer, Nathan Formby, was out of his vehicle and walking around.

Because the crash involved the Bar Harbor Police Department, it will be investigated by the state police. A police sergeant from Ellsworth who specializes in accident reconstruction was called in as well.

“We contacted the Maine State Police to investigate the incident,” Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Police Chief David Kerns said. “That section of State Route 3 was closed for several hours while the crash was reconstructed. The investigation is ongoing and any further information will be released by the Maine State Police.”

Multiple agencies responded to the scene from Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, and Ellsworth.

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Photos by Shaun Farrar.

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We will likely be updating this story once the Maine State Police releases its information.

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