11/21/2023 0 Comments Bangor daily news death notices![]() ![]() Lau, who was white, stopped breathing while state police officers and a deputy were arresting him for outstanding warrants and for vandalizing the home, swinging a baseball bat indoors and armed with a knife before officers arrived, according to documents. “When law enforcement and mental illness come together, bad things happen on far too many occasions, like this one,” Dunbar wrote in a letter to state officials. He noted that the documents suggested that Lau had a history of mental illness, in addition to substance abuse. Dunbar, an activist, said he was interested in the case because of the intersection of law enforcement and mental illness. The autopsy and investigatory documents were first obtained by Hermon resident Doug Dunbar under the state’s Freedom of Access Act. The deputy who wielded the flashlight remains under investigation by the sheriff's department for the incident in the tiny northern Maine community of Patten. The state’s chief medical examiner determined Lau’s death was a homicide but three troopers were exonerated by an internal investigation, officials said. Police said Lau continued to resist them until he was placed in an ambulance, but witness statements showed a difference in perception of the threat with people inside the house saying he appeared to be motionless by that point, documents indicated. Arresting officers used a stun gun on Lau twice and pummeled him while he was facedown, with one deputy striking him with a flashlight, including once on the head. Jeremy Lau, 46, was erratic, violent and making unintelligible sounds while on drugs early March 1, 2022, when police responded to a report that he was trashing the home in which he’d been staying, state police said. PORTLAND, Maine - Maine’s attorney general concluded there was no criminal conduct when four law enforcement officers used a stun gun and beat a handcuffed man in the head with a flashlight while facedown on a porch in a death determined to be a homicide.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |