PORTLAND — Portland police are looking for information about who tossed fireworks into a parked car on Cumberland Avenue last month.

Police obtained security video from the owner of an apartment building at 457 Cumberland Ave., near Avon Street, that shows someone putting a Roman candle through the partially open rear window of a 2009 Nissan Versa at 1:40 a.m. on July 17, a Tuesday.

The video shows a succession of explosions inside the car before the device either burns itself out or is extinguished. Police were summoned by neighbors who heard the fireworks but even though officers were in the neighborhood within two minutes, they found nothing suspicious.

The following morning, the car’s owner reported the damage – burn marks throughout the interior of the car. She said the damage might have been worse but a bottle of vinegar in the back seat ruptured and may have helped extinguish the pyrotechnics, police said.

The video shows what appears to be a gray car parked alongside the Nissan for about five minutes, even changing directions in the parking space at one point. The driver of the car can be seen standing outside the gray car smoking a cigarette and talking on the cellphone.

It’s unclear what the driver and passenger are waiting for. After the passenger pushed the Roman candle through the Nissan’s rear window, the gray car pulls away quickly, bumping against the Nissan’s rear bumper in the process, then heading west on Cumberland Avenue.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Portland Police Department at 874-8533.


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