Maine Wire reporter Joe Sokol narrowly avoided being struck by a vehicle Thursday morning while reporting from public property outside a methadone clinic in Bangor, Maine.
What happened?
Joe Sokol was reporting near Bangor Comprehensive Treatment Center, also known as Discovery House BR Inc., on Odlin Road when a confrontation involving a driver occurred. The facility provides medication-assisted treatment, including methadone, to people with opioid use disorder.
According to The Maine Wire, the clinic has received millions of dollars in taxpayer funding through Medicaid in recent years.
The Maine Wire said the driver recognized Sokol as a reporter and confronted him while he was working. Video released by the outlet appears to show a vehicle making a U-turn before moving from the roadway onto the grass near Sokol. The outlet described the maneuver as an attempt to strike the reporter.
Sokol moved out of the vehicle’s path and was not injured. He also recorded the vehicle’s license plate, which The Maine Wire identified as a blue Jeep Compass with Maine registration 841-LZD. The information was provided to police.
Bangor police responded to the scene and are investigating. As of Thursday afternoon, authorities had not publicly announced an arrest or criminal charges.
Joe Sokol speaks out
Sokol later addressed the incident on Facebook, saying he believed the driver had tried to hit him.
{{/usCountry}}Sokol later addressed the incident on Facebook, saying he believed the driver had tried to hit him.
{{/usCountry}}"I just almost got murdered. All caught on tape," he said. "This is what unchecked violence looks like."
Providing details, he wrote, “I stood outside the Bangor Comprehensive Treatment Center and watched the staff greet every car...pointing and sneering at me. I was across the street! The people the greeted ere friendly on the way in, but on the way out those faces graduated to curses and a middle finger. More than one of them almost wrecked their vehicle while yelling and pulling out.”
He added, "Then someone acted even more crazy and tried to take me out. Minutes after the attempted murder I walked across the street at the cold hearted staff....I asked about the patient who had just tried to kill me ....they couldnt care. Their remedy was simple: I was the problem and I had get off the property. Trespassed."
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Maine Wire issues statement
The Maine Wire confirmed the incident and said Sokol was safe and unharmed.
In its statement, the outlet said Sokol was reporting on the treatment center when a driver allegedly tried to strike him with a vehicle. The organization said it would cooperate with the Bangor Police Department’s investigation and provide information it had gathered about the vehicle and driver.
"Unfortunately for the driver, the Good Lord equipped Joe with the reflexes of a cheetah, and the professional instinct of a man preserves evidence. Joe avoided the vehicle by swiftly dodging toward the direction it was heading, utterly outwitting the seemingly intoxicated driver. An outstanding performance under pressure. Exactly what the Maine Wire expects," the statement said.