LAKEPORT — The District Attorney’s office has found that the May 30, 2018 death of Anthony Gerard Cortez following an incident to which the Lakeport Police Department and Lakeport Fire Department responded was the result of a drug overdose.
Don Anderson’s DA office reported that “no wrongdoings have been found” to have occurred during the incident and that “there shall be no criminal charges filed on any individual in this matter.”
According to the DA, Cortez—a 24-year-old resident of Clearlake—had “exhibited signs of having a medical distress,” and died 14 minutes after being transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital. A May 31 autopsy determined his cause of death to be acute drug toxicity and acute amphetamine overdose. Cortez was later found to have had Atopine, Methamphetamine, and d-Amphetamine in his system.
According to the DA, the incident began when several calls were made to the LPD concerning Cortez, who was reportedly seen “running back and forth on the walkway on the second floor balcony” at downtown Lakeport’s Anchorage Inn. Cortez was reportedly yelling and gesturing wildly at other occupants of the hotel. “A few minutes later Cortez walks onto Main Street and walks southbound in the middle of the road,” the DA reported.
Police Chief Brad Rasmussen and Officer Andrew Welter made contact a few minutes later with Cortez, who was seated on the grass at Natural High School. Cortez reportedly stood up and approached Rasmussen and Welter, to whom he appeared agitated but not hostile, mumbling and waving his arms, “bobbing, dancing in place and shaking his head. The officers immediately placed handcuffs on Cortez and sat him back down.”
At 10:13 a.m., five minutes after Rasmussen and Welter had approached Cortez, Lakeport Fire Department arrived at the scene, said the DA. It was noted at that time that Cortez was having a heart attack.
36 minutes later at 10:49 a.m. according to the DA, Cortez was transported to the Clearlake hospital where he arrived at 10:56, and was pronounced dead by a physician at 11:13 a.m.
Anderson told the Record-Bee on Monday that he had not noticed the length of time which had passed between ambulance arrival and hospital departure, but said he had noted in his records that paramedics “were working on him, and hooking up vitals” during that time.
According to the DA’s office, investigators later conducted a search of Cortez’s room at the Anchorage Inn. The investigators did not locate narcotics, but discovered two empty syringes in the room.
The DA’s office stated it had found that Cortez’ death was “not contributed to, or caused by any member of the Lakeport Police Department.”
Rasmussen declined to comment on the incident, but LPD Lieutenant Jason Ferguson said that the department agrees in full with the District Attorney’s report.
