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Arthur Roybal died after 16 minutes of prone restraint while being transported in jail. The transport appears to be a violation of Adams County’s own policy.
DENVER — Nearly a year and a half after a botched transport of a man with mental illness inside the Adams County Detention Center, a grand jury concluded that none of the deputies involved were responsible for causing the inmate’s death.
This means no deputies will face criminal charges.
Arthur Roybal died on Dec. 24, 2022, when deputies placed him facedown onto a gurney before strapping down his body with a series of belts. Roybal had been found naked and screaming in his cell and needed to be transported to the jail’s medical bay so he could receive treatment. He had a large amount of methamphetamine in his system when he died.
The local coroner called the death a homicide due to, in part, “prolonged restraint in a prone (facedown) position.” The transport appears to be a violation of Adams County’s own policy that prohibits deputies from placing inmates “facedown or in a position that inhibits breathing.”
> The video above aired May 24: More than a year after inmate death, deputies involved remain uninvestigated and on the job
In a report signed by Adams County District Attorney Brian Mason on April 18 and provided to 9NEWS, a 17th Judicial District grand jury issued a no true bill in Roybal’s death, which is a decision by the grand jury not to indict anyone involved.
Arthur Roybal died after 16 minutes of prone – or facedown – restraint. While that restraint was a “contributing factor” in the death, the Adams County Coroner also concluded Roybal had a substantial amount of meth in his system.
“I believe that this man would not have died at this time if he was not intoxicated by methamphetamine,” Dr. Stephen Cina wrote in the autopsy report.
The report says the grand jury found that none of the deputies acted with a “criminal state of mind” of murder or the lesser offenses of reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Even so, the grand jury recommended the Adams County Sheriff’s Office do additional training on restraint devices and the risks of asphyxia associated with prone restraint and to review its policies and procedures on communication between deputies and medical staff.
The sheriff’s office said in a statement that it reviewed and agreed with the grand jury’s recommendation on training in the use of restraint devices. The sheriff’s office said its training division offers a course that includes the risks associated with “positional asphyxia” and the use of restraint devices, and that personnel at the detention center train with medical staff for health crises.
The statement also said “all transportation and restrain possibilities, as well positioning, will be a part of the internal investigation.”
Shortly after Roybal’s death, 9NEWS Investigates asked a spokesperson for the county sheriff if the office would place any of the deputies involved on leave. At that point, the spokesperson said no, adding the office would wait for the criminal review to conclude before starting its internal review of the deputies’ actions.
During the grand jury investigation, the deputies involved continued to work their normal assignments, a sheriff’s office spokesperson said late last month.
> Editor’s Note: This raw video contains death, brutality and offensive language, and may be difficult to watch. 9NEWS has chosen to redact racially offensive language.
This story includes previous reporting by Chris Vanderveen.
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