A 38-year-old man has died from injuries he received during a massive brawl Tuesday night in a downtown Lewiston park, authorities said.
Donald Giusti died Friday at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, after he was hospitalized from injuries he received in a late-night fracas that erupted in Kennedy Park on June 12. The fight involved as many as two dozen teenagers, pre-teens, and three adult men, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
[Brawl near Lewiston park leaves one critically injured, police say]
Guisti, of Lewiston, remained hospitalized in critical condition until his death, and the State Medical Examiner’s Office is working to determine how he died, McCausland said. McCausland would not describe the nature of his injuries before the autopsy report was completed.
At that point, police will determine whether the death will be investigated as a homicide, he said. Earlier this week, McCausland said state police started monitoring Giusti’s condition and assisting the Lewiston Police Department’s investigation of the fight because the city does not handle homicide cases.
Police have confirmed little about what started the fight, other than that it broke out at 10:45 p.m. and spilled onto adjacent Knox Street, according to Lewiston Lt. David St. Pierre. He would not confirm media reports that the brawl began when someone fired a BB gun.
“There are no details [to release], as we’re still seeking information from those that were there and from witnesses,” McCausland said.
In the days since the fight, police have increased foot patrols of the area and strictly enforced an existing 9 p.m. curfew at the park, which is across from the police station, St. Pierre said.
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