A Man Dressed as a Tree Got Arrested for Blocking Traffic in Maine, Police Say

A man in Maine was arrested Monday after he dressed as a tree and blocked traffic, authorities said.

Portland police said Asher Woodworth, 30, covered himself in evergreen branches and plopped himself in the middle of a busy intersection about 1 p.m. as a “performance.”

Officers warned the Portland native several times to get out of the road. Woodworth cooperated at first and can be seen on video walking slowly to the sidewalk. “Keep going, buddy, you’re almost there,” an officer tells him.

But then he later made his way back onto the street, prompting his arrest for obstructing a public way, Portland Police Department spokesman Lt. Robert Martin said Tuesday. “He said it was some kind of an art thing,” Martin said. “He called it his performance, and then he said he wanted to see how it would impact people’s natural choreography.”

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Woodworth, who has no criminal history with the Portland Police Department, was later released from jail on a $60 bail, authorities said. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Woodworth’s antics amused many on social media. Police acknowledged that his performance was “odd” but also stressed that it affected safety. “It’s very dangerous, especially the way his view was obstructed,” Martin said. “People might not have known there was a person inside there.”