Bystanders said a tractor-trailer struck cars and scraped a building on Forest Avenue on Friday morning, before driving off.
It was unclear how much damage was done, but it didn’t appear that anyone was injured in the incident.
Portland police hadn’t provided any information by Friday night.
Tracey Hall of Portland said she had just finished a long shift as a certified nursing assistant at Maine Medical Center and was walking home around 8 a.m. when she came upon the bizarre scene in front of the city’s Public Health offices at 39 Forest Ave.
She pulled out her cell phone and recorded video as a tractor-trailer repeatedly tried to back out of a parking lot next to the building, striking cars, a parking meter and possibly scraping the building. Some of the cars appeared to have heavy damage to them.
“He knocked down the parking meter like it was a twig,” she said.
Hall said she and several others yelled at the driver to stop, but he didn’t respond.
Eventually, the driver got the truck out of the lot and drove off, turning east onto Congress Street.
A Portland police cruiser showed up less than a minute later and drove off after the truck, but Hall said she couldn’t see whether the officer managed to catch up to the tractor-trailer.
Hall said another officer took down her name and phone number and those of other witnesses.
Police didn’t issue a report on the incident Friday and attempts to reach the department’s spokesperson by phone and e-mail Friday night were not successful.
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