LEWISTON — One evening last week, a Lewiston woman was running on the sidewalk along East Avenue with a friend when she was hit in the chest by a miniature billiard ball.

“We were just running, chit-chatting. All of a sudden I felt extreme pain right on my chest and fell to the ground,” she said. Her friend looked up and saw a kid hanging out of a car window, looking back after throwing the ball.

The woman, who prefers not to be identified because she doesn’t know who attacked her, said the car was a two-door older model red Volkswagen Golf, but she didn’t get the license plate.

“You wonder what they’re thinking,” she said of anyone who would throw something at a runner. “What are they going to gain from all that?”

The woman reported the incident to police, who are also investigating a recent attack on Russell Street where another runner was hit with a soda can.

Recent cases of items being tossed from cars at bicyclists, runners, joggers and walkers has prompted outdoor exercise enthusiasts to remind passing motorists that Maine law requires them to share the road.

“I don’t think people realize that when you do something like that, a rider could flinch and hit another rider and knock them into the road,” said Melissa Johnson, a local cycling enthusiast who had a brush with an Orange Crush bottle two years ago. “To them, it’s just fun. I don’t think they realize it’s your life they’re messing with.”

Johnson’s story in not unlike those told by other people who regularly run and ride along the streets of the Twin Cities.

Johnson was riding with a group two years ago on Route 202, heading from Augusta to Lewiston, when someone in a passing pickup truck threw a soda bottle out the window, hitting her while she was moving.

“I was just covered. The bottle hit me and I was covered,” Johnson said. “Thankfully, I didn’t flinch. It shook me up a bit. It shook all of us up.”

Last month, a local man was injured when someone in a passing car threw a traffic cone at him while he was jogging in the bike path along Pond Road in Lewiston. The cone hit his chest, causing him to fall and break his arm. This incident and the one on East Avenue caught the attention of local bicyclists, runners, joggers and walkers, who are now warning others to beware and pay attention if they are attacked.

Cyclists such as Johnson contend that motorist harassment is more common than people realize. But Lewiston police Lt. Mark Cornelio said that of the 10 reports filed since June of objects being thrown from cars, only three of those involved individuals being used as target practice by passing motorists.

The same day as the Pond Road incident, which occurred Aug. 15, a dart was thrown at a walker on Sabattus Street. The third incident involved an object being thrown at a Bates College student near campus in June.

Deputy Chief Jason Moen said the Auburn Police Department has not had any reports of objects being thrown at people from passing cars in the last several months.

“The best thing we can tell people is that if something like this occurs, get an accurate description of the vehicle, including the plate number, and report it to the authorities,” Cornelio said.

Allison Vogt, director of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, points out that there are state laws protecting cyclists from aggressive drivers, including a law passed last year that requires motor vehicles to allow 3 feet of clearance when passing bicyclists, allowing drivers to cross the centerline to ensure that clearance.

Shoshana Hoose, communications coordinator for the coalition, praised the Brunswick Police Department for issuing what the coalition believes to be the state’s first citation under the 3-foot law this past spring. The organization’s July newsletter reports that a motorist in Brunswick was charged after passing two bicyclists in April and hitting one of them in the arm with his SUV. According to an April 16 report published in the Brunswick Times Record, the man then stopped and exchanged words with the bicyclists, telling them they should not be riding in the road.

The man was issued a $137 traffic ticket for failure to use due care when passing a bicyclist, and was also charged with driving to endanger, a criminal offense.

The Lewiston runner hit by the billiard ball said she will start carrying a cell phone when running so she can call police immediately if she’s attacked again. She encourages others to “watch your surroundings, keep looking around you to see what’s going on.”

“You wouldn’t think we would have that issue here,” she said, but we do.