STANDISH – Tyler Hall, the Saint Joseph’s College student who was driving the vehicle involved in the Route 35 crash that claimed the life of a fellow student in April, was arrested and charged with manslaughter last week by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

The accident occurred in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 14, and resulted in the death of 20-year-old Clark Noonan of Pittston. Noonan was a sophomore business management major and basketball player at Saint Joseph’s College.

In addition to the manslaughter charge, Hall, 20, faces charges of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon (vehicle) and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident. He posted $1,000 cash bail from Cumberland County Jail soon after his arrest July 27.

Hall’s lawyer, Walter McKee, said his client has been cooperative with the investigation so far. McKee said the relatively low bail amount reflects Hall’s willingness to work with police and prosecutors and that he isn’t seen as a flight risk by the court, an assessment confirmed by Tamara Getchell, spokeswoman for the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office.

“Bail is designed to ensure someone appears in court, and here the [Cumberland County] District Attorney’s office and I discussed the matter early on and indicated his willingness to appear,” McKee said. “He voluntarily appeared at the sheriff’s office to be arrested, and that’s a very good indication someone is going to continue to appear. So the bail is consistent in what you’d see in a case like this. We have been cooperative from the get-go.”

McKee said he has little information to share with the public regarding the case or his client. Since charges were only recently brought, McKee said, he knows little of the prosecution’s case and expects to receive full police reports after Hall makes his initial court appearance Aug. 15.

“Obviously we’re dealing with a significant case, involving serious charges, and we want to review all the evidence in the case and figure out how best to proceed,” McKee said Tuesday.

Asked if he has visited the crash scene in Standish, McKee said he has not but “we will be doing our own investigation, and we’re going to review state’s evidence and decide what to do from there.”

McKee, who is based in Augusta but well known in Portland, according to Getchell, shared little concerning his client’s emotional state since the accident.

“I think it’s fair to say that Tyler feels terrible about what happened,” he said.

McKee was also unsure whether Hall would continue his studies at Saint Joseph’s in the fall or whether he is still enrolled.

The college, in a statement released Tuesday, said, “Saint Joseph’s College has recently learned that charges were filed related to the tragic car accident of April 14. Our hearts go out to all the individuals, family and friends affected by the accident, and we will continue to hold them in our hearts and prayers in support of their ongoing healing.”

Accident update

Now that charges have been brought, new information has been released by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office regarding the accident that occurred on Route 35 about a quarter-mile west the intersection of Route 237.

According to detectives supervisor, Lt. Don Foss, a total of 11 students left the Sebago residence of a fellow Saint Joseph’s College student at about 1:15 a.m. and were headed back to Saint Joseph’s in two vehicles when the accident happened. Foss said the two vehicles were leapfrogging each other as they traveled south on Route 114 and east on Route 35 out of Sebago Lake Village.

“They were passing each other at what we believe to be speeds exceeding the speed limit,” Foss explained.

According to Foss, during one of the passes, the vehicle Hall was driving, a 2008 Mazda 626, crashed into a roadside fence owned by the Portland Water District meant to prevent cars from entering Sebago Lake, located below. Noonan, who was in the front passenger seat of Hall’s car, was thrown from and then run over by the vehicle. He died at the scene.

Asked if alcohol was involved, Foss said, “It’s believed to be. We can’t confirm it yet, but that’s part of the whole investigation. There were a couple of vehicles involved and two carloads of students, and we believe alcohol was involved.”

The case has been under investigation for three months and continues to be, Foss said. He said blood alcohol level reports would be released during court proceedings.

“We are wrapping up the [accident] reconstruction report and providing all of that information we get from toxicology and reconstruction to the [district attorney’s office], and we can’t comment on [blood alcohol content test] results,” he said.

Tyler Hall