Around New England

Vermont License Plate Triggers Attack In Maine, Police Say

January 23, 2021

A man driving in downtown Portland, Maine was attacked by a homeless man and woman because he had Vermont license plates, police said.

A 41-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman yelled at the man that he shouldn’t be in Maine “before attacking him and then damaging his car,” Portland police said in a written statement.

They tried to drag him from his car, witnesses told police.

“The man was not seriously hurt during the attack,” which occurred at 12:22 p.m. Friday, January 22 near 656 Congress Street in Portland, police said.

When police found the woman, “she tried to destroy a bag containing a combination of Fentanyl and Methamphetamine by eating it,” police said. She was arrested and taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where she was being treated as of Friday, police said.

The man “returned to the area a short time later and he was also arrested,” police said. “After his arrest, a witness told officers that he had put something in the bumper of a nearby car. Officers located Xanax, Oxycodone, Crack Cocaine and $2800 in cash inside a bag found hidden in the bumper.”

Both suspects have been charged with assault and drug trafficking, among other charges.