U.S. Attorney’s Office Concludes Investigation Into Drug Overdose While in Police Custody

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced today that there is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights or District of Columbia charges against two officers with the Metropolitan Police Department arising out of the death of a 56-year-old District resident from a drug overdose that occurred on July 22, 2025.

The U.S. Attorney's Office and the Metropolitan Police Department Internal Affairs Division conducted a comprehensive review of the incident, which included a review of law enforcement and civilian accounts, Body Worn Camera footage, physical evidence, recorded radio communications, forensic reports, autopsy and toxicology reports, and reports from MPD.

According to the evidence, on July 22, 2025, two officers arrested Darrell Cox inside of a convenience store located in the 2900 block of Martin Luther King Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. Cox originally followed one of the officers into the store after he had been acting erratically outside on the sidewalk. Cox' erratic behavior continued inside. When the owner of the store requested that Cox leave, a minor altercation ensued, and Cox was placed under arrest.

As the officers were waiting to transport Cox, his physical condition began to deteriorate. An ambulance, which had already been summoned to the scene, arrived and Cox was placed in the care of the medical technicians. The decision was made to take Cox to the Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center. Cox became completely unconscious shortly after arriving at the hospital. The physicians were unable to revive him, and he died on the scene. A subsequent autopsy revealed that Cox's death was accidental and resulted from ingesting a combination of cocaine and phencyclidine (PCP).

After a careful, thorough, and independent review of the evidence, federal prosecutors found insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer willfully violated the civilian's rights.

Investigations generally

The U.S. Attorney's Office reviews all police-involved fatalities to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to conclude that any officers violated either federal criminal civil rights laws or District of Columbia law.

The U.S. Attorney's Office remains committed to investigating allegations of excessive force by law enforcement officers and will continue to devote the resources necessary to ensure that all allegations of serious civil rights violations are investigated fully and completely. The Metropolitan Police Department's Internal Affairs Division investigates all police-involved fatalities in the District of Columbia.