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Man wearing 'bizarre' tree costume arrested for blocking traffic in Maine

By Ben Hooper
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PORTLAND, Maine, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A Maine man clad in a tree costume was arrested when he blocking traffic after being told by police to stay out of the street.

Police said Asher Woodworth, 30, donned a tree costume reminiscent of a camouflage ghillie suit Monday and wandering into a busy downtown Portland intersection.

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Woodworth stopped traffic and drew attention as he slowly inched his way across the crosswalk, and he was soon joined by a pair of police officers who escorted him to the other side.

"All right, get out of the road or you're going to get arrested," one officer says in video of the incident posted to Twitter by a WCSH-TV news producer.

The police officers told the man he was free to go with a warning to stay out of the street.

"I'll accept your silence as you understand. You're free to go," an officer says.

The man wandered back into the street moments later and was arrested.

"His motivation was to see how people would react to what he called his 'performance' and how he might impact 'people's natural choreography,'" Assistant Police Chief Vern Malloch told the Portland Press Herald.

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"It happens from time to time," Malloch said. "People do bizarre things because they want to get arrested. We're still not sure if he was trying to make a statement."

Woodworth was charged with obstructing a public way and released on $60 bail Monday afternoon.

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