Bizarre accident in Portland leaves witnesses stunned

People in office buildings nearby described the noise as “a series of bangs”, witnesses exclaimed that they had “no idea how the heck that happened”, and a crowd of stunned people assembled within minutes following what had to be one of the most bizarre traffic accidents in Portland’s history on Wednesday night.

 

Photo- Chris Shorr, BDN.

Photo- Chris Shorr, BDN.

Nobody was injured in the accident, which occurred around 7:30 pm in front of the Free Street side of the civic center.

Photo- Chris Shorr, BDN.

Photo- Chris Shorr, BDN.

What appeared to have happened is the red truck pictured above rear ended the parked sedan as the driver of the truck was pulling in behind it to park.

Then, apparently, there was a domino effect that pushed the first sedan into the one in front of it, which then went under the SUV.

Photo- Chris Shorr, BDN.

Photo- Chris Shorr, BDN.

The man who claimed to have been driving the red truck admitted to rear ending the first sedan, but claimed that the SUV driver had backed up moments after and fled the scene. A woman who claimed to have been a passenger of the first sedan corroborated the man’s story, and the driver of the sedan pinned under the SUV was not present at the scene, nor was the owner of the SUV.

Here are the rest of the pictures that I took:

 

Chris Shorr

About Chris Shorr

Chris is a sixth generation Portlander who loves all things Maine. He has worked with mentally ill and marginalized adults at a Portland non-profit, on a lobster boat in Casco Bay, at several high-end Portland restaurants, and at a local meat packing plant. He also ran for Portland City Council in 2013, wrote a weekly column in the now defunct Portland Daily Sun, and currently writes a weekly column in The Portland Phoenix.