FAIRFIELD — A Mercer man was injured Monday night when he crashed his car off Route 139 while fleeing a police officer, according to the Fairfield Police Department.

Criminal charges are pending against Douglas Ladd, 45, whose injuries were serious enough that he was taken via LifeFlight of Maine helicopter to MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland, Fairfield police Chief Thomas Gould wrote in a statement Tuesday.

The brief, high-speed chase began around 10 p.m. when someone told Fairfield police Officer Joseph Kibbie, who was at a convenience store on Route 139, that a vehicle was sitting in the middle of the road at the intersection of Route 139 and Old Center Road, Gould said.

Kibbie went there, saw the 2011 Ford Focus stopped in the middle of the road and approached the vehicle, thinking it was disabled, Gould said.

Inside the car, the officer saw a man, later identified as Ladd, inhaling fumes from an open paint can, Gould said.

Kibbie attempted to have Ladd get out of the vehicle, but Ladd instead drove away north toward Norridgewock, Gould said. Ladd stopped his car briefly again but ignored Kibbie’s directions to step out of the vehicle.

Ladd continued to drive north in the southbound lane, before driving into a ditch and striking a culvert, which threw the car into the air, Gould said. Ladd’s car then struck a tree and rolled to a stop.

Emergency crews from the Fairfield and Benton Fire-Rescue Department extricated Ladd from his vehicle, and he was initially transported by Delta Ambulance to MaineGeneral’s Thayer Center for Health in Waterville before being flown to Portland, Gould said.

A Maine Medical Center spokesperson was not able to provide an update on Ladd’s condition Tuesday.

In total, the pursuit lasted three minutes, covered 1.73 miles and reached speeds of up to 65 mph, Gould said.