MOUNTLAKE TERRACE – Mountlake Terrace police weren’t responsible for the death of a man who was in police custody when he stopped breathing, the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office said earlier this week.
Randall H. Dobbins, 49, died during a struggle with police Sept. 4.
The Snohomish County medical examiner concluded that Dobbins died of a heart attack induced by acute intoxication because of a combination of cocaine and methadone in his system.
The Everett Police Department investigated the case, and chief deputy prosecutor Mark Roe concluded that Mountlake Terrace police did not contribute to the Snohomish man’s death.
No officers will face prosecution based on Roe’s decision.
Roe said he reviewed the Everett investigators’ files and spoke with Dobbins’ sister. He also spoke with a motorist who witnessed the struggle.
“The officer never hit Mr. Dobbins or roughed him up. One minute he was struggling, and then suddenly he stopped breathing,” Roe said. “I can’t find fault in how police handled the situation.”
Police were called to a disturbance at Creekside Village on 236th Street SW. Witnesses reported that Dobbins was acting erratically, Roe said.
An officer saw the Snohomish man running from the residence and attempted to subdue him. A passing motorist stopped to help.
Dobbins reportedly was struggling and kicking as the officer tried to handcuff him. He stopped breathing, and paramedics arrived two minutes later. Attempts to revive him failed, and he died at the scene.
It was the second in-custody death in a little more than a year in Mountlake Terrace.
Christopher Van Horn, 38, died while struggling with police during a drug-induced rampage. Roe also determined that officers didn’t contribute to Van Horn’s death.
“These are horrible tragedies,” Roe said.
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