Lisbon man who crashed stolen truck into Auburn Mall pleads to felony

LEWISTON — A Lisbon man who police said escaped from a residential facility and drove a stolen truck through entrance doors at the Auburn Mall in September 2018 admitted Friday to a related felony.

Tyler Nickerson, 26, pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal mischief, a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Under a plea agreement, Nickerson was sentenced in 8th District Court to three years with all of that time suspended except for one day. He will be on probation for two years, during which he may not return to the Auburn Mall and must reside at a secure mental health residence that has day and night supervision, leaving only with the approval of an employee at the home.

Nickerson, who is a ward of the state, must also comply with a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, the judge ordered.

Three related misdemeanor charges stemming from the incident were dismissed by prosecutors on Friday.

Although Nickerson’s actions caused more than $48,000 damage, a judge didn’t order him to pay restitution because Nickerson’s only income is through Social Security. He has been diagnosed with an intellectual disability as well as post-traumatic stress, bipolar and social personality disorders, according to prosecutors.

Police said they stopped Nickerson shortly after midnight on Sept. 23, 2018, as he was driving a Toyota Tundra pickup truck on Union and Hampshire streets. The truck’s taillight covers had been broken.

Police noticed broken glass in the bed of the truck as well as on the bumper.

An officer discovered Nickerson had been driving without a license and had been reported as a missing person in Cumberland County. He also had been on bail for a felony charge.

Dispatchers said the truck Nickerson was driving had been stolen, but the owner had declined to press charges.

Police wrote in an affidavit that an entrance at the Auburn Mall had been breached by a vehicle. Pieces of taillights had been left behind. An officer took the pieces to where the truck had been towed and they fit the truck’s broken taillights.

The damage at the mall included several broken doors and windows, police said, adding that tire marks indicated the damage had been intentional.

A supervisor at the group home said Nickerson had climbed out a window at the home in the morning, according to police. The supervisor said Nickerson had been out on bail pending a deferred plea on a similar incident last year.

When he spoke with police later at the jail after his arrest, he said a friend must have stolen the truck before giving it to him to drive. He denied any knowledge of broken glass at the mall.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com