A federal judge has recommended a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of a Bangor man who drowned in the Kenduskeag Stream in March while trying to avoid police be dismissed.
Gary Manuel, the father of Peter Manuel, filed the lawsuit himself in early August in U.S. District Court in Bangor. He alleged that his family, including his son, a 22-year-old black man, faced “a pattern of harassment” from Bangor police, the city and the state that culminated in his death on March 2.
Attorneys for Bangor and the state asked that the lawsuit be dismissed about two weeks after it was filed.
[Subscribe to our free morning newsletter and get the latest headlines in your inbox]
U.S. Magistrate John Nivison said in his 11-page decision that the elder Manuel’s claims that “the events of March 2, 2018, were the product of animus arising from [his previous] litigation activity on behalf of the Manuel family. Plaintiff’s allegations, however, are conclusory and are insufficient to support an actionable claim.”
Gary Manuel previously sued Bangor and state officials in 2009 and 2011 in federal court in Bangor over housing issues. Both cases were dismissed.
Nivison also found Friday that the recent wrongful death claim against the Bangor Police Department and four of its officers belonged in Penobscot County Superior Court, not federal court. The judge also found there was no basis for Manuel’s claims that city and state officials had conspired to keep his family from receiving support for housing and other services.
Nivison’s decision is subject to review by U.S. District Judge Lance Walker. It would be highly unusual for Walker, Maine’s newest federal judge, to reverse the magistrate’s ruling.
The city’s attorney, Fred Costlow of Bangor, said the judge’s decision was the correct one.
“The death of the young Mr. Manuel was a tragic event but the court’s decision was certainly the correct one based on the facts and the law,” he said Friday.
Assistant Attorney General Christopher Taub, who represented the state, did not immediately return a request for comment. It is the practice of the Maine attorneys general not to comment on cases until they are concluded.
Efforts to reach Manuel, who has said he is homeless and lives with a mental disability, were unsuccessful Friday.
Peter Manuel reportedly ran from police in the early hours of March 2, when officers responded to the report of a fight at the Half Acre nightclub, located on Harlow Street. Police said that the younger Manuel hopped a fence and jumped onto the frozen surface of the stream.
He refused help from officers and firefighters who tossed him ropes to help him climb out, police said. Manuel disappeared when he slipped beneath the ice.
His body was discovered in June when a boater on the Penobscot River spotted it by the docks beneath the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge near the Sea Dog Restaurant. He was not positively identified until July.
Peter Manuel was a loyal, funny and hardworking person, according to his friends. He stood out at Bangor High School as a track and cross country star.
However, Peter Manuel faced obstacles, his friends said. By early high school, his parents split up and left Manuel to fend for himself. He would spend nights at the Shaw House youth shelter and at the homes of classmates.