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- PRIVACY ISSUE: Procedure for dealing with victim’s body called into question by onlookers
LEWISTON — A 53-year-old Lewiston woman was killed Monday morning after she was struck by a pickup truck on Lisbon Street.
Police said Christine Beaulieu died after being struck by a pickup truck driven by Gaeten Bergeron, 33, also of Lewiston.
Lt. Adam Higgins, the public information officer for the Lewiston Police Department, said the incident remained under investigation, but it appeared Beaulieu was not in a crosswalk when she was struck.
The accident occurred at approximately 6:30 a.m. at 850 Lisbon St. near Burger King. Beaulieu died at the scene, her belongings tossed all over the road, including the contents of her purple bag, her sneakers and a purple knitted scarf.
According to police, Beaulieu was crossing the road from the Mobil Mart, walking toward the Lewiston Mall. She was hit near the center of the road by Bergeron’s green Toyota Tundra.
A review of Bergeron’s driving record showed he had no previous accidents or convictions going back to when he was issued his driving permit in 1998.
“She was coming from the Mobil side of the street and heading toward the Papa John’s side of the street, heading in that direction,” Higgins said.
The speed limit on this section of Lisbon Street is 30 mph and lowers to 25 mph just feet down the hill.
Police closed off a section of Lisbon Street between East Avenue and the entrance to the Lewiston Mall and blocked access to parking lots for Burger King, Mobil Mart and neighboring businesses. The road reopened at about 11:30 a.m.
According to Lewiston Police Sgt. David Chick, after the accident the driver was transported to the police station for a standard battery of toxicology tests and to be interviewed by investigators.
Beaulieu’s body, which was covered with a white sheet, remained on the street until just after 10 a.m. when it was removed by employees of Fortin’s Funeral Home.
Detective Tyler Michaud is the investigating officer.
This is the second fatal pedestrian accident on Lisbon Street in the past few weeks.
Norm Rivard, 86, was killed at about 5 p.m. on Nov. 18 crossing Lisbon at the intersection of Webber Avenue. He had just finished his bartending shift at the nearby Webber Social Club when he was struck.
Beaulieu is the 17th pedestrian to be killed by a car so far in 2015, making it the deadliest year for walkers in at least a decade, according to the Maine State Police.
PRIVACY ISSUE: Procedure for dealing with victim’s body called into question by onlookers
LEWISTON — Christine Beaulieu’s body lay stretched out near the centerline on Lisbon Street more than 3½ hours after she was struck by a pickup truck Monday morning, clearly bothering spectators.
At 9:30 a.m., one man loudly told police he thought it was disrespectful to leave the body in the street, where it was lined up just to the left of the pickup.
Her body was covered by a white sheet, but many of the people gathered talked openly with each other that they thought police should do more for her privacy.
Asked about the body staying in place for so long, police Sgt. David Chick said if no medical services are required, the state’s emergency response procedures require a body to remain in place until the family is notified. Then, it is up to the family to contact a funeral home and arrange for removal.
Chick explained the process to a number of people gathered at the scene, but they remained critical of the process and of police.
Under Maine’s Emergency Medical Services most recent guidelines for emergency responders in death situations, effective July 1, in cases where “the decedent is clearly dead, the body should not be moved or disturbed unless there is a danger that the body may be lost or further damaged.”
What that means, according to Drexell White, emergency medical dispatch program manager for Maine Emergency Medical Services, in cases where medical treatment is not required because the person is deceased, ambulances do not become transport vehicles and other arrangements must be made directly with a funeral home for removal.
“It’s unfortunate,” he said, “that you have a situation where this was a very, very public place,” but that leave-the-body-in-place is the standing protocol for emergency services throughout the state. And, often in cases where police are involved and accident reconstruction or other investigation has to be done, “it just becomes a waiting game until the body can be removed.”
He acknowledged that when these situations occur in public places people will often get upset, but noted the same procedures are used whether a person dies in their home or other places “where the body isn’t in full view of the public.”
“From a resource standpoint,” White said, if emergency medical services are not needed to treat a patient, they leave the scene so they can be available for medical calls.
Beaulieu’s family was informed of her death around 9 a.m. Just after 10 a.m., when employees of Fortin’s Funeral Home arrived to remove the body, a number of people in the crowd stepped forward to photograph the activity — still criticizing the length of time it took for the body to be tended to.
A Lewiston firefighter moved a firetruck between TV cameras and the body to block filming, and police positioned the department’s Evidence Response Team box truck between the firetruck and the back of the pickup involved in the accident, creating a “U” of vehicles blocking public view while the body was removed.
Even so, two women in the crowd stood right at the police tape blocking access and craned to take cellphone photos. Sgt. David Chick moved to stand in front of them, positioning his body to block an opening where activity could be seen.
After Beaulieu’s body was removed, the crowd dispersed, her belongings were collected and firefighters hosed down and cleaned up the street to remove chalk marks.
jmeyer@sunjournal.com
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