BANGOR, Maine — A local man was struck by a vehicle and injured after the driver was “confronted by several individuals carrying weapons” Wednesday night in the William S. Cohen School parking lot on Garland Street, police said Thursday.
The 18-year-old from Bangor was hit at about 9:45 p.m., Bangor police Sgt. Tim Cotton said by email. He was transported to Eastern Maine Medical Center “with serious, but not life-threatening injuries,” the sergeant said.
A friend of the teenager said Thursday evening that “he just had surgery to put bars in his arm and hip, and screws. It was a six-hour surgery.”
The friend, who said he was involved in the incident, said the 18-year-old also has damage to his neck from being run over.
“It was like a movie scene — I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “We all ran over and they ran to their car. [The driver] tried to hit us all. He went in a complete circle, then tried to hit us all and got [my friend].”
The friend said he believes there are cameras in the school’s parking lot and that the driver should be charged.
The Bangor Daily News is not releasing the 18-year-old’s name because he is the reported victim in this case.
“According to witnesses, this incident occurred after the driver and lone occupant of the vehicle was confronted by several individuals carrying weapons,” Cotton said, declining to say what type of weapons the group were holding.
Why the armed group confronted the driver and whether the injured man was one of the people holding a weapon are questions Cotton said he could not answer at this point in the investigation.
“That is part of the ongoing investigation,” Cotton said. “When the [criminal investigation division] sergeant lets me know about further details they want released, I will let you know. As of now, that is all that is being released.”
The driver of the vehicle has been cooperative with the investigation, the sergeant said. He posted a message on his Facebook page saying, “May be the last status I post in awhile.”
The victim’s friend said he and the other three people he was with, including the teenager hit by the vehicle, were not asked to give a statement to police on Wednesday. He said he planned to file a statement with police on Friday.
“We never got to give our side of the story,” he said.
Those with information about the incident are asked to contact Detective Josh Kuhn at josh.kuhn@bangormaine.gov, or the station at 947-7384. The department’s anonymous tip-line can be reached by selecting ext. 6.