PORTLAND – The mother of a Standish man found dead off the side of state Route 25 is questioning the actions of a sheriff’s deputy who found him walking without shoes or a coat earlier in the morning.

The body of Andrew Smith, 19, was found Saturday off the side of the road at about 7:30 a.m. – six hours after Deputy Carl Neugebauer encountered him walking on the road.

Mona Chase, Smith’s mother, said her son was clearly drunk or on drugs and inappropriately dressed for the weather. Chase said the deputy should have realized he was a danger to himself.

“I think my son would be alive today if they cuffed him and put him in protective custody,” Chase said.

Smith spent part of Friday night at a party on Route 25. His body was found at the foot of a driveway near his own home. Authorities have ruled out foul play.

State police spokesman Stephen McCausland said alcohol is a factor in Smith’s death and that state police are awaiting the results of toxicology tests.

Capt. Kevin Joyce of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said Neugebauer acted appropriately and that Smith hadn’t committed any crimes.

“Just being in public and intoxicated is not a crime,” Joyce said.

Smith would not accept a ride from the deputy and ran into the woods at least once, Joyce said. Friends of Smith, meanwhile, pulled up in a pickup truck and said they would help him get home, Joyce said.

The deputy left Smith with the friends and responded to a call about another young drunken person walking down the road about four miles away, Joyce said.

After Neugebauer gave a 13-year-old girl a ride home, he returned to the spot where he encountered Smith, but did not see him, Joyce said.

Both Joyce and McCausland said they did not know whether Smith ever got into the pickup truck.