Rescuers lift a man Friday morning from the canal near the Bates Mill complex in Lewiston. The 29-year-old from Philadelphia jumped into the canal while fleeing police, Lt. Derrick St. Laurent said. Vanessa Paolella/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — Nearly two dozen rescue workers responded to Canal Street on Friday morning to pull a 39-year-old man from Philadelphia from the canal.

Unable to climb a ladder to the bridge at the end of Pine Street, the man was lifted up to the walkway using a rescue sled and transported to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center by United Ambulance at 10:20 a.m.

While awaiting assistance, the man grasped the ladder with the help of an emergency worker.

The man was naked, except for a life vest provided by rescue personnel.

According to Lt. Derrick St. Laurent, Lewiston police first began receiving calls about a naked man running around downtown Lewiston at 9:37 a.m. The man ran through Kennedy Park and entered several businesses, Laurent said, even running past the police station.

He ran from police when approached, St. Laurent said, and jumped in the canal while fleeing.

Drug use was a factor, he said.

The man is from Philadelphia, but has been living between there and the Lewiston area for some time. This is not the first time police have interacted with the man.

St. Laurent declined to share the man’s name due to the medical nature of the call.