September 20, 2024
Obituaries

Bar Harbor’s ‘Tent Man,’ 46, killed after being ejected from car in crash

BAR HARBOR – A single-car crash Thursday evening on Crooked Road claimed the life of a Bar Harbor man.

David Lelansky, 46, was driving west at 7:40 p.m. in his 1996 Volvo station wagon when he apparently drifted off the road near the stone barn. The car hit a culvert and rolled two or three times before it came to rest in a small brook, according to police reports.

Lelansky was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt, officers said.

“The accident’s being reconstructed,” Lt. James Pinkham of the Bar Harbor Police Department said Friday. “The cause of the accident is under investigation.”

A neighbor notified officials after hearing the sounds of a crash. Crews from Bar Harbor were joined by an accident reconstructionist from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department and a ranger from Acadia National Park. Bar Harbor fire and ambulance personnel also assisted at the scene.

Lelansky was originally from Auburn and lived with his wife, Laura, in the village of Town Hill. He was the owner of Southwest Tent Rental and used to work at Main Street Variety in Northeast Harbor, where he was fondly remembered Friday by customers.

“Dave was from away, but he was a local,” Steve Boucher of Northeast Harbor said. “He’s A-1. He knew everybody. He was the kind of guy who’d help you out.”

Boucher said that many in the community knew Lelansky as “Omar the Tent Man” because of his tent business. Lelansky hired many youngsters from the area to help him put up his special-event tents. He also loved to ski at Sugarloaf and enjoyed Italian food.

“He’s going to be missed by a lot of people,” Boucher said. “He was a great guy.”


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