PORTLAND, Maine — The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office has made an arrest in connection with the April car crash that claimed the life of Clark Noonan, a former Bangor High School star athlete and Saint Joseph’s College student.
Tyler James Hall, 20, of Pittston was arrested Friday on charges of manslaughter, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, a Cumberland County Jail official confirmed Friday. He has been released on $1,000 cash bail.
According to Cumberland County investigators, Hall was the driver of one of several cars filled with Saint Joseph’s College students playing a game of “leapfrog” shortly before the fatal crash, which occurred at about 1:30 a.m. on April 14, Capt. Shawn O’Leary of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said shortly after the crash.
Hall, who was driving the lead car, lost control of the Mazda 626 he was driving on Chadbourne Road, also known as Route 35, near the Saint Joseph’s College campus. The car veered off the road, rolled over several times and became entangled in a chain-link fence.
The other cars arrived at the accident scene just seconds later, O’Leary said.
Noonan, who was ejected, died at the scene. Saint Joseph’s students James Philbrook, 20, of Auburn and Terence Cullen, 21, of Iowa also were in the car. Hall, Philbrook and Cullen were treated for injuries that were not life-threatening after the rollover.
Noonan was a two-year varsity basketball player at Bangor High School, where as a senior in 2010 he earned Bangor Daily News third-team All-Maine recognition as well as All-Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference first team, all-defensive and all-academic honors.
Noonan was a sophomore business major and basketball player for the Monks.
His funeral service at Bangor Baptist Church drew more than 700 students, family members and friends.
Late last month, former Bangor High School soccer and basketball teammate Luke Hettermann organized the first Noonan-Nation Basketball Tournament in Noonan’s memory. The tourney was held at the University of Maine Student Recreation and Fitness Center in Orono.
So sad that a young man lost his ife as a result of this. I hope that Mr Hall seriously learns something from this tragedy. Anyone who drives under the influence or drives recklessly for stupid reasons, please take note. I am sure that Mr Hall, and Mr Noonan did bot believe that their night of fun was going to end this way…..please learn from their mistakes, and keep yourselves and others safe.
I missed where it said anyone was drinking at the time of this event.
you read my post wrong. “ANYONE who drives under the influence OR drives recklessly for stupid reasons….” If you notice, there was the word “OR” in between the words under the influence and drives recklessly. I made this portion of my post to make ANYONE who drives under the influence OR drives recklessly think twice. Notice I also followed up that sentence with how surely Mr Hall and Mr Noonan did not believe their actions would result in death. Sad that you missed the real message behind my post.
Did I miss something here? I’m curious to know how Mr. Hall was charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident where none of the articles mention anything about that. Or is this one of those cases where you throw as many charges at someone as you can in hoping that something sticks?
Hall ran from the scene after the accident.
Senseless waste. Stupid game. They all played a part in this young man’s death.
released on a thousand dollars bail? Something is wrong with this.
Like what? What do u think bail is for?? Where is he gonna go?
“They ALL played a part in this young man’s death.”….sad to say, but true, including the young man that died.
Good to see that someone is going to have to be responsible for this, however, i gotta wonder, if these were a couple of the punks around here that are always in trouble with the law, would anyone have been charged with anything? I think not…Name means a lot more than most think here…still a sad sad story all the way around.
Why should just one person be charged… Are the parents pushing for blame? I feel sorry for their loss, but what if the driver was Noonan… what would the outcome be… so tragic of an ending for some bright high potential kids.
First of all..Seat belts save lives. and Mr. Hall with live with this for the rest of his life. If it was me that would be the worst punishment.
This just happened in Rockland- An 18-year-old Owls Head man will serve 15 days in jail for a car crash that claimed the life of his 17-year-old passenger. The victim’s family expressed disappointment at the short sentence.
Evan Altiero was sentenced Monday in Rockland District Court on a reduced charge of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, which in this case was a 1998 BMW Z3. Altiero originally had been charged with manslaughter.
Tyler Hall will probably get 16 days….does anyone else think this is kinda nuts for a sentence that resulted in a death- albeit an accidental death??
As stupid a thing as they were doing, it was still an accident. They didn’t plan on crashing, and they didnt plan on someone being ejected from the car. They thought they were having fun.
As awful a tragedy as it is, I think a long sentence would be too much. He already has to live with the shame and guilt of it. He’s going to have to continue at school, with all of his peers knowing what he did. In my mind, a month in jail and maybe six months community service. I’m sure he’s punishing himself enough at this point. The kid isn’t a hardened criminal who gun someone else down. He’s a kid that ended up driving recklessly and accidentally killed one of his friends. I know that has to be weighing him down a lot these days.
you got it right… there is no taking this back.. and he has a life to wake every day know he had at least a major part in the lose of his friend.. punishment enough ? not as visible ..but I think enough
“They didn’t plan on crashing,” but the driver did plan on driving recklessly without regard for his passengers.
Just wondering, if there were several cars playing leapfrog aren’t the drivers of the other cars also responsible and subject to arrest?
Glad he’s going be be held accountable. He cost a young man his life. The ultimate decision to drive recklessly was Mr. Hall’s, not his victims.
but it was the victim’s choice to get in the car, participate, and singlely not wear a seat belt. This does not deserve prosecution.
From what I remember about this accident, they were all responsible, including the deceased. They all consented to this little game.
here is the problem.. these guys were buddies.. they were together usin lousy judgement.. an accident took the life of a young boy.. is it an accident of it is manslaughter ? is the law correct and should it be used under these circumstances.. do you suppose that there is punishment each day for Hall and the others. ? I don’t know folks.. I’m incredible sad that a boy lost his life.. I’m not on board with prosecuting for this accident.. as stupid as it was .. I hope it turns out on the right side of the human scale