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Maine

No charges filed after monster truck topples utility poles, injuring several at Maine fairground

The incident occurred last Saturday at the Topsham Fairgrounds, authorities say

Associated Press
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  • A monster clipped a power line last week at the Topsham Fairgrounds in Maine, causing live wires to fall.
  • Police investigator Sgt. Mark Gilliam said no criminal charges were filed.
  • Two people were taken to hospitals, including a spectator with a fractured vertebra and a woman with back pain.

A police investigator concluded no criminal charges were warranted after a lobster-themed monster truck clipped a power line, causing some scary moments with live wires falling to the ground in Maine. Two people were taken to hospitals.

Several people were injured Saturday when utility poles snapped and a transformer tumbled to the ground at the Topsham Fairgrounds. Witnesses said some people were trapped in portable toilets, which had wires on them.

Topsham Police Sgt. Mark Gilliam wrote in a report released Thursday that the driver was trapped in the cockpit because of a live power line and another wire was draped over an injured man on the ground. The injured spectator, who suffered a fractured vertebra, was taken to a hospital along with a woman experiencing back pain, he wrote. Others sought treatment on their own.

LOBSTER-SHAPED MONSTER TRUCK TOPPLES UTILITY POLES IN MAINE MISHAP

The driver, Gregory Winchenbach, 51, of Jefferson, told police that his truck had bounced over the dirt ramp several times without incident but that on Saturday afternoon it snagged the power line over the course, Gilliam wrote. Winchenbach said he couldn’t see the wire from the cockpit of the custom-made monster truck, the investigator wrote.

Monster truck

This photo shows a monster truck that clipped an aerial power line, toppling several utility poles while performing for a crowd at the Topsham Fairgrounds on June 1, 2024. (Topsham Police Department via AP)

The monster truck was shaped to look like a lobster and named the Crushstation, a play on the word crustacean.

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Neither the owners of the truck nor the promoter of the event returned messages seeking comment.