AUBURN — A 10-year-old boy was briefly caught in the doors of a moving school bus Friday afternoon but escaped serious injury.

Police said they were called to Spring Street about 3:40 p.m. for a report of a Sherwood Heights Elementary student who had been dragged beside the school bus after becoming stuck in the door. Shortly after arriving, however, police said they discovered the boy had not been dragged but that he had gone for a short ride while clinging to the doors.

Investigators said the child’s arm and backpack had become hung up in the bus doors as they closed. The boy held onto the outside of the bus, police said, as it was driven a short distance, through the intersection of Spring and Court streets, before coming to a stop.

Police said the boy fell to the ground when the doors opened again, but that he was not seriously hurt in the fall. He was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston to be evaluated out of what the school department called “an abundance of caution.”

Officers at the scene called to notify the child’s mother.

No charges were filed in the incident. School Superintendent Cornelia Brown sent out a letter to the school community to advise of the mishap.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the student and his family this evening,” she wrote.