LINCOLN, Maine — Police will reopen their investigation of the death of a 55-year-old trucker from Tennessee who was found in a parking lot in downtown Lincoln in 2009 to put to rest rumors about the incident, Police Chief William Lawrence said Friday.
“We had heard rumors that these suspects who were involved with the driver prior to his demise had more involvement than what was reported,” Lawrence said. “We want to dispel the rumors. We want to look at it with fresh eyes.”
Police don’t have any hard information that would lead them to challenge the handling of the original investigation, to question Penobscot County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy’s decision not to prosecute or to say whether the two men cleared by the probe did anything wrong, Lawrence said.
“There are a few unanswered questions we have found and we want to clear those up,” Lawrence said. “It is basically the public brought this to our attention.”
One of the virtues with having an on-staff detective, which the Lincoln Police Department added early this year, is the ability to do cold- or dead-case reviews during slower work periods that can stifle rumors or answer unanswered questions, Lawrence said.
Such reviews also can develop new information that could lead to the arrest or exoneration of suspects, he said.
Brian Isdell, 55, was found collapsed in a downtown parking lot on Aug. 20, 2009. He was pronounced dead at Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln a short while later.
His death and reports of a violent confrontation he had with two Lincoln teens just before his collapse led local and state police to seal off the Mechanic and Lake streets block for several hours that morning as they investigated.
The teens — who during an interview with the Bangor Daily News had strongly denied any intent to physically harm Isdell — said they promised to help him buy marijuana and that one of them fought with him briefly after they had taken a carton of cigarettes from his truck.
They also said they took the trucker’s cellphone and were identified by police as persons of interest in connection with Isdell’s death.
An autopsy conducted later showed that Isdell died of natural causes brought on by heart disease and that the heart attack began several hours before the incident, as is typical.
Speaking five months after the incident and having reviewed the investigation, Almy said that the circumstances and evidence didn’t support criminal charges.
The autopsy ruling precluded a homicide charge, Almy said, and a robbery charge for the stolen cigarettes also would not fit, as witness statements and other evidence indicated that Isdell invited the teens into the truck in search of marijuana.
By definition, robbery is theft that occurs through the use or threat of force.
A theft charge might have applied, Almy said, but police obviously never had a chance to secure a victim statement that would identify the cigarettes or telephone as stolen, assuming that was the case. The victim also had one of the teen’s cellphones in his hand, indicating a trade of telephones, not a theft.
Detective David Cram had suggested reopening the investigation during a conversation with Lawrence a few weeks ago. He will begin work on the investigation sometime next week. Police have not had recent contact with the suspects or Isdell’s family, Lawrence said.
Follow BDN writer Nick Sambides Jr. on Twitter at @NickSam2BDN.
So the Chief didn’t have enough #$%^ to tell the public that the case is over and there is no case. I feel for the officers
It appears they do not have enough real work to keep them busy. Time to cut staff and save some taxpayers’ moneys.
Big men talking big words from behind a computer screen. Why don’t you guys strap on vests and guns and do the work of a policeman?
Or just call for layoffs and cry foul when no one shows up when you need them.
The layoffs have already happened across the country as part of the union assault.A police job in PI is paying $14 an hour-a pittance considering the skills needed and the risk involved.I support police and firefighters 100%. R’s don’t,nor do those who are too cheap to pay for basic municipal services.If nobody shows up when your house is burning,blame the TPers.
Well I haven’t had a pay raise in almost 5 years now but EVERYTHING is going up. Gas, heating oil, food, clothing, etc…so where do you suppose we find the money to pay public sector employees more? Tax the rich? That didn’t work out so well in Maryland I believe it was. They increased taxes on the wealthiest and guess what happened? They moved!
Lincoln is booming economically, so to call for layoffs in public safety is ridiculous. Same goes for raising taxes.
They have a detective position now, let them do all the investigating they need to, it’s not like it’s costing anything more.
I am not calling for raising taxes OR layoffs. Many people are clamoring to raise taxes on the “rich” and my point is that didn’t work out so well in one of our mid-Atlantic states.
Lincoln IS NOT booming economically from what I hear! Very few businesses who are looking to the future. No jobs. No future for the young people. They have a very nice web site at welcometolincolnmaine.com but it gets very little support from the looks of the few ads it has. The new police chief is well liked though and seems to be doing a good job.
Their costs are going up same as yours are but it sounds like you won’t help them out.If you’re a private sector employee who hasn’t gotten a raise,that isn’t the fault of the guy plowing your street at 3 am while you’re sleeping in your warm bed.It’s the fault of your boss or your company.And if you’ve been working for the last five years you’re better off than those who have lost their homes,jobs or insurance.
You missed the point Band. The point of my post was in order to provide a pay raise to public sector
jobs the only source of revenue is property taxes, federal and state
income tax. We manufacture nothing and only provide services.
Two things you should know about me…I work two different jobs, one private sector and one public sector. In my private sector job I have been employed with the same company in the same position for 8+ years. I feel lucky to have a job. My public sector job has been 25+ years and I have held multiple positions and in 3 of the last 5 years we received no additional money in our hourly pay. And chances have it, when the plow guy is out a 3 AM so am I doing my job too.
We all, public and private need to learn to live within our means or we are going to tax ourselves until there is nothing left.
Fair enough.You are on both sides of the fence and that is fair.I know people who scream about the unions who have either never worked a paying job in their lives or make far more than any public sector employee could hope for.
Certainly nobody likes paying taxes without receiving services.I think there is always belt tightening to be done but people need to realize we can’t just cut,we have to provide.
A like to you.Have a good night.
Try asking for a raise and explain to your employer of five years why you deserve one. Speak up!
They just voted on income tax increase…. I do believe the wealthiest taxes went up 1 percent on the top end……We also pay a County income tax too…..
Who is “they”?
The people in power….Im talking MD, I guess I left that out.
Hmmmm… I like the idea of strapping on guns to defend myself from
thugs looking to sell drugs and steal cigarettes (I’ll leave the vest).
Doing work of Police is something we were supposed to have been doing
from even long before the Framers drafted, passed and ratified the
Constitution (NOT from behind a computer screen, let alone, the QBs arm
chair). I like your comment about “no one shows up when you need
them”. Something tells me you know about Warren v. District of Columbia 444 a.2d 1 DC Cir. (1981).
The only thing I’m thinking different is that even when they don’t lay
off staff, the Law Enforcement is still selective in what they respond
to in certain areas, and will still try to disarm the citizens (esp. Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.). Makes sense, doesn’t it?…
Hmmmm… I like the idea of strapping on guns to defend myself from
thugs looking to sell drugs and steal cigarettes (I’ll leave the vest).
Doing work of Police is something we were supposed to have been doing
from even long before the Framers drafted, passed and ratified the
Constitution (NOT from behind a computer screen, let alone, the QBs arm
chair). I like your comment about “no one shows up when you need
them”. Something tells me you know about Warren v. District of Columbia 444 a.2d 1 DC Cir. (1981).
The only thing I’m thinking different is that even when they don’t lay
off staff, the Law Enforcement is still selective in what they respond
to in certain areas, and will still try to disarm the citizens (esp. Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.). Makes sense, doesn’t it?…
TruckerGuns
Hmmmm… I like the idea of strapping on guns to defend myself from
thugs looking to sell drugs and steal cigarettes (I’ll leave the vest).
Doing work of Police is something we were supposed to have been doing
from even long before the Framers drafted, passed and ratified the
Constitution (NOT from behind a computer screen, let alone, the QBs arm
chair). I like your comment about “no one shows up when you need
them”. Something tells me you know about Warren v. District of Columbia 444 a.2d 1 DC Cir. (1981).
The only thing I’m thinking different is that even when they don’t lay
off staff, the Law Enforcement is still selective in what they respond
to in certain areas, and will still try to disarm the citizens (esp. Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.). Makes sense, doesn’t it?…
Hmmmm… I like the idea of strapping on guns to defend myself from
thugs looking to sell drugs and steal cigarettes (I’ll leave the vest).
Doing work of Police is something we were supposed to have been doing
from even long before the Framers drafted, passed and ratified the
Constitution (NOT from behind a computer screen, let alone, the QBs arm
chair). I like your comment about “no one shows up when you need
them”. Something tells me you know about Warren v. District of Columbia 444 a.2d 1 DC Cir. (1981).
The only thing I’m thinking different is that even when they don’t lay
off staff, the Law Enforcement is still selective in what they respond
to in certain areas, and will still try to disarm the citizens (esp. Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.). Makes sense, doesn’t it?…
I work very closely with police and while there are some who aren’t as professional as others, as a whole they all do very good work and treat people very fairly. It is a tough job, that is deserving of criticism, but not when they are simply trying to provide the service they are obligated to. I am a concealed carry permit holder and I also believe in self defense above relying on the police, but that’s because I know when seconds count the nearest officer is minutes away. That’s not his fault.
In regards to police disarming the citizens, the police do not make the laws. They are ony charged with enforcing them. Police have always taken the brunt of citizen’s displeasure with laws they don’t like, but the fact of the matter remains that police didn’t make guns illegal in these cities.
Also, my comment about no one showing up when you need them was referring to layoffs. If police are laid off response times could go from minutes to hours. Thusly no one showing up when you need them (in an emergency). Not because they would choose not to respond.
Seems like it is going to be very hard to go forward when the Medical Examiner says he died of natural causes that started before they truck driver and “persons of interest” even had their confrontation. Good luck with the investigation.
This case is way to cold and the only witnesses are the two teens, everybody knows these teens and know what they’re capable of. there is a very long list of things they’ve done and gotten away with. when you have a child that’s three years old on a tricycle sitting in the middle of the road and you stop and toot to let parents know and nobody comes out of the house, well that shows some charactor there that these teens grew up in.
“stop and toot” for a small child in the middle of the road, how about stop get out of your car and move those poor babies out of the road yourself all the while calling CPS because that is clearly a form of neglect.
If i’d have driven off and left a child in the road why in hell would i post about a child in the road at all… of course i got the child out of the road, the point i was making was the charactor of the parents not myself. also it really surprises me that i would have to justify if i did or i didnt get the child out of the road… thank you very much.. hope you are enlightened now.
Tia want to advertise like a real company….BUY AN AD!!!!!!!!!!!
We find it hard to believe that a trucker who apparently had never been here before just decided to seek out kids to score marijuana. That type of behavior is pretty much unheard of in the world of over-the-road truckers, not to mention dangerous. Kudos to the Lincoln Police Dept. for reopening this case no matter what the outcome. Perhaps his family can get some closure and get some lingering questions answered. As long-time truckers, we are saddened that someone earning a living doing a very hard job cannot come here and be made to feel welcome.