State releases bodycam footage of moments leading up to man’s death in police custody

The Maryland attorney general’s office on Wednesday released body camera footage showing a Frederick man’s final moments before his death in police custody.

The footage shows Michael MacDougall, 40, struggling to speak, sweating profusely and fighting to work his way out of police handcuffs before going still and silent while in police custody following a single-vehicle crash the night of July 1.

State officials said the Frederick man pulled off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and crashed into a wooded area along Southway, just off the parkway. U.S. Park Police notified Greenbelt Police, and by the time city officers arrived, Park Police had placed him in handcuffs and escorted him out of the woods.

Greenbelt Police Officer Tyler Fahey, a four-year veteran of the force, then arrived at the scene, as indicated by body camera footage. Another officer held a baby girl who, he said, was in the car MacDougall crashed and fell out of a car seat.

“He is messed up on drugs,” the officer told Fahey.

Wearing a blue shirt, black shorts, black sneakers and handcuffs, MacDougall grunted, gagged and tried to untangle himself from the restraints.

“What did you take so I can tell the ambulance?” an officer asked him. When MacDougall shook his head, the officer remarked: “Well, that’s a damn lie.”

Fahey grabbed handcuffs from his police vehicle to restrain MacDougall’s leg. Officers remarked on how hot and sweaty MacDougall was and debated whether to give him Narcan.

“His lips are turning blue,” one officer said. “Ay, man, stay awake!”

In the footage, police can be heard saying they gave MacDougall at least one shot of Narcan.

MacDougall’s body virtually stopped moving while his hands and legs were cuffed. Police shook him to keep him awake. Some remarked that he was still breathing.

“He’s fading. He’s fading. He’s fading,” an officer said.

MacDougall was taken on a stretcher to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, state officials said. Despite the presence of several officers, the Maryland attorney general’s office, which investigates all police-involved fatalities in the state, named only Fahey. The office did not respond to an inquiry about why.

This is one of two deaths involving police that the state is investigating in Prince George’s County. The other is the fatal shooting of James Lee Jr., 32, of Sandy Springs, Georgia, by Prince George’s County Police back in March.