Little Rock police said Thursday that two officers had been cleared of wrongdoing after a man died in their custody in August.
An autopsy conducted at the state Crime Laboratory found that Marcus Robert Doyle Sexton, 22, died of methamphetamine intoxication Aug. 4, according to the department. Officers Eric Hollister and Stephen Lichti encountered Sexton at 11:26 p.m. that evening at 71 Red Gate Drive, a residence in the Knollwood Mobile Home Park south of Stagecoach Road.
Police said Hollister and Lichti were responding to reports that a man had been breaking into homes in the area. The officers confronted Sexton as he tried to flee a residence, according to police reports, but Sexton pulled away from them and refused to lie down. Hollister then pinned Sexton on the ground, punched him and handcuffed him with help from Lichti, according to the reports.
Police said Sexton stopped breathing and the officers performed CPR, but Sexton was later pronounced dead at Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock.
Little Rock police investigated Sexton's death.
Pulaski County deputy prosecutor John Johnson said Thursday that his office had reviewed the case and found that the officers had acted within their rights. Johnson said the officers' use of force was justified.
"All the people who witnessed the arrest were interviewed and were talked to about how that happened -- the fact that he was combative with the officers and everything that happened leading up to him being taken into custody," he said.
Hollister, a five-year veteran of the Police Department, and Lichti, who joined the agency in 2002, were placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation of Sexton's death, in accordance with department policy.
Police spokesman Steve Moore said Thursday that the two had since returned to duty.
A police report shows the officers suspected that Sexton, who was wearing only shorts, was on drugs. Hollister called for an ambulance after Sexton had been restrained because Sexton appeared to be on "sherm," the street name for a combination of PCP and marijuana, the report states.
Hollister reported that Sexton, after being handcuffed, was on his stomach "kicking and flailing around" and trying to strike officers. Hollister placed his knee on Sexton's back to "maintain control," then pressed a Taser against Sexton but didn't fire the stun gun, according to the report.
Hollister again placed his knee against Sexton's back "to keep control of him," the report states.
The officers noticed soon afterward that Sexton wasn't breathing, the report states.
Moore said the Little Rock police investigation of Sexton's death included interviews with multiple witnesses and a review of 911 calls from residents whose homes had been broken into.
One of those residents, an 8-year-old boy, told investigators that Sexton had kicked down two doors in his home and tried to fight him and two other people inside, police reported.
Court records show that Sexton, of Stuttgart, was convicted of felony delivery of methamphetamine or cocaine in 2012.
His parents could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Metro on 03/10/2017