AG’s office declines to prosecute Greenbelt Police officer for in-custody death

The Maryland attorney general’s office has declined to bring charges in the in-custody death of a Frederick man who crashed his vehicle after pulling off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and was restrained by officers at the scene.

Police bodycam 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 the single-vehicle crash the night of July 1.

In a report released Friday, the attorney general’s Independent Investigations Division notes the chief medical examiner found MacDougall died from the “combined effects” of methadone and amphetamine, deeming his death an accident.

The chief medical examiner determined “the restraint applied by law enforcement was not contributory towards his death,” the AG’s office says.

Based on a review of the evidence, the AG’s office says, Greenbelt Police Officer Tyler Fahey, who helped restrain MacDougall, “did not commit a crime under Maryland law.”

“Accordingly, the Attorney General has declined to prosecute the subject officer,” the office said.

Authorities said MacDougall pulled off the B-W Parkway and crashed into a wooded area along Southway around 10 p.m. U.S. Park Police officers notified Greenbelt Police, and by the time that city’s officers arrived, Park Police had placed him in handcuffs and escorted him out of the woods.

Fahey, a four-year veteran of the force, then arrived at the scene, body-camera footage showed. Another officer held a baby girl who, he said, was in the car that 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.

Fahey helped Park Police officers keep MacDougall on his side and from standing up while they waited for an EMS crew to arrive, the AG’s report notes. Fahey let MacDougall sit up briefly before returning him to his side, using his foot and a knee to restrain his legs before retrieving leg restraints from his vehicle, the report states.

Bodycam video shows officers remarking on how hot and sweaty MacDougall is and debating whether to give him Narcan.

The report says MacDougall became unresponsive and Park Police officers administered Narcan. Officers then removed his handcuffs, and MacDougall was loaded into an ambulance and administered CPR. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 10:45 p.m., the report says.

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 has the authority to investigate only Maryland police officers.