Video: Mobile crane sideswipes businesses, cars

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TACOMA, Wash. – South 15th Street near Pacific Avenue and I-705 in Tacoma was closed Friday afternoon after a mobile crane lost power and careened out of control down the wrong side of the street.

The crane lost power at about 1 p.m. and the driver jumped out as it started rolling down South 15th Street in the heart of downtown.

The crane rolled for about a block and a half, taking out a tree, a power pole and signs before crashing into an I-705 on-ramp, leaving residents shaken.

In an e-mail to KING 5, one witness said the crane ripped a utility pole out "like a toothpick."

"I thought it was fake at first. It was coming at me," said Nigel Smith, who was working at Quiznos. "Luckily it hit the pole, because if it didn't hit the pole, it would have come straight at our building."

But the crane never hit any cars or people. No one was injured.

Dave Nicandri watched it all happen, and says no one was killed because someone started frantically yelling at people to get out of the way.

SkyKING

SkyKING captured video of the crane after it crashed into a concrete barrier in downtown Tacoma May 9, 2008.

"Just as the car gets out of the way, you hear this huge roar and rumble as the crane comes sweeping down the hill like a freight train," he said. "It could have been brutal."

Kandis Bray was at work at Tully's when it happened.

"We hid behind the counter - luckily it didn't hit anything," she said.