The city of Portland and a local firefighter are named in a wrongful death lawsuit related to the drowning of a man in the Back Cove.
According to the Portland Press Herald, Eric Cohen died after drowning in the water in April of 2020. Police said Cohen beat his girlfriend unconscious and assaulted a bystander after the couple got into an argument. They said he then fled from the scene, crossed I-295, stripped naked and jumped into the 41-degree water.
The man’s father, John Cohen, has filed a suit claiming first responders could have acted faster to save his son’s life while they waited for the city’s fireboat to arrive.
The city and its attorneys have not commented publicly on the civil suit.