ST. JOHNSBURY — Vermont State Police are investigating the death of a New Hampshire man, who spent the night at the Northeast Correctional Complex for detox treatment and died shortly after his release Monday.
Joshua Dovholuk, 32, of Lincoln was pronounced dead at Northeast Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury, according to a Vermont State Police press release Friday.
Investigators believe he had a “significant pre-existing medical condition and had not been following his treatment plan,” state police said, but they’re still waiting for toxicology results.
Neither Al Cormier, the Department of Corrections facilities director, nor Commissioner Jim Baker were available for comment Friday morning. Rachel Feldman, a spokesperson for the department, said officials believe they provided the best care possible for Dovholuk while he was in custody.
Dovholuk had encounters with both state police and St. Johnsbury police before he was taken to the correctional facility, state police said.
At about 1:50 p.m. Sunday, troopers responded to a single-vehicle crash on South Wheelock Road in Lyndon, where they found Dovholuk uninjured next to a vehicle on its side. EMTs evaluated him at the scene, and did not transport him for medical treatment. His vehicle was towed, and troopers drove Dovholuk to a nearby store to use a phone and wait for help, state police said.
Nearly six hours later, St. Johnsbury police officers responded to the intersection of Central Street and Western Avenue after hearing that a man was sitting on a concrete block, rocking back and forth, the town department said.
Officers arrived and found Dovholuk, who appeared disoriented and lethargic, police said.
They placed the man in protective custody, and Northeast Kingdom Human Services personnel evaluated him. The local hospital cleared Dovholuk for detox treatment at the correctional facility in town, according to state police.
The New Hampshire man entered Department of Corrections custody Sunday at about 9:10 p.m. and was released Monday at about 6:30 a.m., state police said.
Just minutes after Dovholuk was released, a department staff member found him in the correctional facility’s parking lot in “apparent medical distress,” state police said. The staff member called 911, and an ambulance took Dovholuk to Northeast Vermont Regional. State police did not describe the apparent medical incident.
Feldman, the Department of Corrections spokesperson, said Dovholuk was found “alive and responsive” and stayed that way when put in the ambulance.
Feldman said the department couldn’t further describe Dovholuk’s apparent medical incident because of privacy laws.
For the hours Dovholuk was in custody, he did not appear to be in medical distress, Feldman said.
Investigators do not believe Dovholuk’s death was suspicious or connected to his interactions with police or correctional officers.
“Mr. Dovholuk was cooperative in all his interactions with police and the Department of Corrections, and at no time did police or DOC staff use force,” the state police press release stated.
Police said Dovholuk’s body was taken to the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy; the findings await toxicology test results, which may not be available for several weeks.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Police: Man died in ‘medical distress’ minutes after release from St. J prison.