LEWISTON, Maine — The Lewiston police officer who died in February pocketed fentanyl from an arrest scene less than a month before his death, which was caused by an overdose on fentanyl, the Lewiston Police Department announced Thursday.
Officer Nicholas Meserve, 34, died Feb. 8 at his home in Lewiston. The cause of his death was acute fentanyl intoxication, an investigation into the incident by state police, drug agents and the attorney general's office revealed.
Police said the manner of Officer Meserve's death was accidental.
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According to the investigation, on Jan. 18, Meserve assisted state police during a traffic stop in Lewiston that resulted in an arrest.
Lewiston police, reporting the investigation results, said Meserve was assisting other officers at the scene by picking up drug evidence that had fallen to the ground, and it appears that he placed some of the drug evidence into his pants pocket while outside the view of other officers.
The drugs involved in the arrest was fentanyl, according to police.
Lewiston Police Chief Brian O’Malley said the investigation showed that none of his department's officers had any knowledge of Meserve’s substance use disorder or his possession of illegal drugs.
"This is a reminder that the opioid epidemic touches the lives of many in the community regardless of their wealth, race, religion or profession," Chief O'Malley said, noting that the department continues to maintain an employee assistance program and peer support team, as well as regular reviews.
O’Malley said the city is still in negotiations with the police unions to establish a drug testing policy to identify potential substance use issues.
If you or someone you know has a substance use disorder associated with narcotics, both Eyes Open for ME and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) of Maine can be reached at 1-800-974-0062, and substance use disorder treatment locations in Maine can be searched here.