A utility crane tipped over in the Small Mall parking lot in Boothbay Harbor at approximately 9 a.m., March 6.

No injuries were reported at the scene, however a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer belonging to Leisha MacDougall was badly damaged.

MacDougall, an employee of the Quick Foto Lab, and Radio Shack manager Tom Dewey were opening the store when they spotted a man running frantically in the parking lot.

“We saw the guy running, and then there was this hellacious crash, and then we look and there is a guy hanging on the rigging,” MacDougall said.

Personnel from Midcoast Energy Systems in Damariscotta were replacing an old heating unit above the store, Dewey said. The crane truck belongs to Arthur D. Henry Crane Services out of Thomaston. It is unknown what caused the crane to topple, but people at the site claimed a stabilizer leg on the truck gave way, according to Boothbay Harbor Fire Chief Nick Upham.  Workers at the scene declined to comment on the situation. 

Dewey said he saw one of the workers standing on the diamond plate steel step of the crane truck at the time of the accident.

“The big guy in the coveralls rode it down,” Dewey said. “Then we saw the other guy just running the other way; he was just getting the hell out of dodge.”

It wasn't until after the dust settled that MacDougall noticed the crane's boom had scraped the backside of her car. “In light of how bad it could have been, that's the least of my worries,” she said.

Additional crews from Arthur D. Henry  and S.S. Excavators arrived at the scene with a bigger crane. By early afternoon a technician with a cutting torch dismantled the crumpled pieces of the boom, while the bigger crane gradually righted the toppled truck. The scene cleared by 2:30 p.m.