Frederick man identified as driver who crashed and later died in Greenbelt Police custody

The Maryland attorney general’s office identified the man who died while in police custody following a single-vehicle crash, as well as the Greenbelt officer “involved” in his death.

Michael MacDougall, 40, crashed into a wooded area along the Baltimore-Washington Parkway around 10 p.m. on July 1.

The “involved officer,” Tyler Fahey, has been with the Greenbelt Police Department for four years, according to the attorney general’s office. Fahey is on full duty while the AG’s office investigates the circumstances of MacDougall’s death, according to Greenbelt Police Public Information Officer Ricardo Dennis.

It’s unclear how Fahey was involved in MacDougall’s death. The attorney general’s office, which investigates all police-custody deaths in the state, initially said Greenbelt officers arrived after U.S. Park Police officers had placed MacDougall in handcuffs and “escorted him out of the wooded area and to the roadway.”

Shortly after that, the AG’s office said, MacDougall “became unresponsive.”

A subsequent press release on July 15 did not identify any Park Police officers, nor did it mention that the federal agency initially responded to the crash. The Maryland attorney general’s office only has legal authority to investigate officers in the state; it does not have jurisdiction over federal officers.

An online fundraiser for MacDougall attributed his “unexpected passing” to a “tragic car accident.”

The website said MacDougall had just become a father to a 3-month-old son and was the primary provider for the child, who was in the vehicle during the crash.

The organizer of the fundraiser did not immediately return a message on Wednesday.

The July 15 press release said the Greenbelt officer was wearing a body camera and was driving a cruiser equipped with a dashboard camera, “which recorded the incident.” The AG’s Independent Investigations Division typically releases footage of police-custody deaths 20 business days after the fatal incident.

This story has been updated.

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