BANGOR, Maine — The man who died after being shot in an exchange of gunfire with a Bangor police officer earlier this month was struck by six bullets and had several different drugs in his system, according to his autopsy report.
Joshua Jozefowicz, 23, most recently of Swan’s Island, was fatally shot on Dec. 1 after he was pulled over in a stolen vehicle by Bangor police Officer Ryan Jones. Jozefowicz parked the vehicle in the parking lot of the Leadbetter’s at 1105 Hammond St. and then fled from police into a wooded area behind an adjacent field.
“The driver took off on foot and turned shooting at the officer,” the autopsy report states, reiterating a report issued by Bangor Police Chief Mark Hathaway shortly after the incident. “The officer returned fire.”
Jones, who joined the Bangor Police Department in 2010, according to Bangor Daily News archives, initially was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation of the shooting by the attorney general’s office.
“Officer Jones is currently working a modified duty assignment pending an eventual return to full duty,” Hathaway said in an email Friday.
The Bangor Daily News filed a Freedom of Access request for the autopsy report, which was released Friday by the Maine attorney general’s office and medical examiner’s office. The autopsy was conducted on Dec. 2 by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Mark Flomenbaum, who signed the report.
Jozefowicz was shot twice in the head and once in the abdomen, according to the report. Those three shots are listed as the cause of death. He also was shot in the right thigh, right hand and right lower leg. The bullet that hit his hand exited at the wrist and re-entered his arm, the autopsy report states.
The report did not indicate the order in which the wounds were inflicted.
Five of the bullets were recovered. None of the shots left gunpowder residue on his body or clothing. The bullet that caused the lower leg injury was not found, the report states.
Although family members posted on social media that Jozefowicz was shot in the back, the autopsy report indicates that was not the case. Messages left with family members seeking comment were not immediately returned.
Two of the fatal wounds were to the left temple and the top of his head. The abdominal wound entered from the front. The report indicates the bullet that caused the thigh wound entered the back of his leg.
A toxicology test done on Jozefowicz showed he had multiple drugs and related compounds in his system, including marijuana, cocaine, codeine, benzoylecgonine, fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, diltiazem, hydromorphone, 6-monoacetylmorphine, morphine and quinine.
Most of the drugs identified are morphine, opioid, painkiller or cocaine derivatives or substitutes, according to a breakdown of each provided in the autopsy.
Three of the drugs are linked to heroin. When 6-monoacetylmorphine is present, “it is generally indicative of heroin use,” the toxicology report states.
Quinine is generally a cutting agent for heroin, and acetyl fentanyl “is estimated to be five times more potent than heroin,” it states. “Several state agencies have issued public health warnings.”
In addition, benzoylecgonine is a byproduct of cocaine use, the report states.
The Dec. 1 incident was the second officer-involved shooting in Bangor this year. The previous incident occurred Feb. 2 during a standoff on Union Street involving Nicholas Condon of Portland. Bangor police officers Brian Smith and Dennis Townsend fired their weapons but Condon was not injured.
The last fatal shooting involving Bangor police occurred on Aug. 3, 1997, when Gregory Baker was shot and killed by Sgt. Robert Bishop, a veteran officer with the department.
Jozefowicz, whose criminal history includes convictions on drug-related offenses and a weapons violation involving brass knuckles in Hancock County, was wanted when the incident occurred. He missed a mandated Sept. 1 court date and a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
A woman who was in the stolen car was arrested and later charged with two drug violations.
Kayla Massicotte, 25, was charged with possession of heroin, possession of a Schedule Z drug and a bail violation, and was taken to the Penobscot County Jail, where she remained on Friday night, a jail official said.