LEWISTON – An Auburn man was hospitalized Thursday night after he was shoved from his bicycle and then beaten by several men on Walnut Street.

Witnesses said the victim was knocked unconscious when he was pushed from his bicycle and then pummeled about 7:30 p.m.

“He was out cold when he hit the tar,” said one man who witnessed the assault. “They just jumped on him and kept kicking and punching, kicking and punching. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Police could not identify the victim as the investigation was under way Thursday night. However, several people at the scene of the attack described him as 31-year-old Craig Coulombe of Auburn.

A spokesperson at Central Maine Medical Center said Coulombe was still being evaluated there late Thursday.

Several witnesses said the attack appeared unprovoked, as the victim sat on his bicycle talking to another man at the side of the road. They said it was woman who initially shoved the victim from his bike. She was then joined by a group of men as the beating commenced.

The victim was still unconscious in the street and bleeding from his mouth and the back of his head when paramedics arrived.

Onlookers clogged Walnut Street between Bartlett and Bates streets as police responded to the scene.

Police took a woman into custody immediately after reaching the scene. A man was handcuffed and loaded into a cruiser minutes later. By late Thursday night, police were still questioning the suspects, but no charges had been filed.

Police and witnesses said it appeared the man suffered a head wound.

“He went right down, headfirst onto the pavement,” said the man who witnessed the assault. “He wasn’t moving at all. He just lay there bleeding and then those guys jumped on him.”

The witness did not want to be identified.

Police interviewed several people and searched nearby apartments as they investigated the attack. The activity drew more than 100 people to Walnut Street.

Police did not say Thursday night what might have motivated the attack. Witnesses at the scene said there did not appear to be any sort of confrontation before Coulombe was assaulted.

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