A Lewiston police officer and Auburn firefighter struggle with a naked man after plucking him from the Androscoggin River Thursday afternoon behind Brookfield Renewable on Island Avenue in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal) Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — A naked man seen clinging to a log Thursday afternoon in the Androscoggin River was plucked out of the water and taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Police, fire and rescue crews were called out shortly before 2 p.m. for a report that a man was in the river behind the former Empire Theater. The area is at the back of what is now Brookfield Renewable on Island Avenue.

When police and rescue crews first approached the man, he refused to come out of the river, police said.  Rescuers lowered a boat into the water and the man was physically pulled from the river.

The man, whose identity was not available, was said to be both combative and suffering from hypothermia when he was brought up out of the water.

It was not immediately clear how long he’d been in the river, where he entered it or why.

The man was taken by ambulance to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center for treatment and evaluation.

It remained unclear later Thursday whether the man would be charged in the incident.

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