SMITHFIELD — An Anson man was taken by LifeFlight helicopter to a Lewiston hospital Wednesday after he was struck by a pickup truck during a confrontation with the truck driver in a sand pit off Sand Hill Road, police said.

Doug Nile, 42, an employee of E.L. Vining Inc. construction company, was being treated at Central Maine Medical Center Wednesday night and was expected to be released on Thursday, according to his employer.

At 10:53 a.m. Wednesday, police responded to a report of a hit-and-run accident involving a vehicle and a pedestrian, according to a press release from Chief Deputy Dale Lancaster of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department.

Bystanders told police that after a verbal confrontation between the driver of an S-10 pickup truck and construction employees in the gravel pit, the truck driver hastily left the gravel pit, striking one of the employees, according to Lancaster.

“The gentleman came into the pit and was in a pickup truck in an area where he shouldn’t have been,” said Kevin Vining, owner of E.L. Vining Inc. “When they went to see what he needed, he became agitated and they asked him to leave.”

The driver of the truck was described as a man who appeared to be in his mid-50s, weighing between 170 and 180 pounds and having a salt and pepper colored beard, according to the release.

Police found the truck and the alleged driver, whose name was not released, with help of a member of the public, according to the release. The investigation is ongoing, and it is not yet clear whether there will be charges.

“Nobody understands why he was there. He had never been there before,” said Vining.

Rachel Ohm — 612-2368

rohm@centralmaine.com