ADAMS, Mass. — No charges will be filed in the death of Mark Bednarz, 56, of Savoy, who died on Feb. 10, a day after fighting with the owner of a home he allegedly broke into in Adams.

 

The Berkshire County District Attorney's Office on Tuesday said it will not be pursuing criminal charges against the homeowner. 

 

Neither the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner nor the doctor who treated Bednarz at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield could conclude that the injuries he sustained during the altercation with the homeowner caused his condition, according to the DA's Office. Cause of death was in part attributed to drugs that Bednarz had in his system.

 

Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue said he was releasing a summary of the investigation because of "continued requests for information." 

 

Adams Police had responded on Feb. 9 at 2:20 p.m. to 57 Spring St. because of an alert of a potential breaking and entering issued by a camera installed in the homeowner's house.

 

Officers found the homeowner, 73, outside with visible injuries to his head, including a deep laceration in the middle of his forehead. An officer entered the residence and found Bednarz on the floor, unresponsive. Police began cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Bednarz while an ambulance was en route. An automated external defibrillator was brought in but the AED, which is able to analyze the patient, several times did not recommend a shock be given. Adams Police officers continued CPR until ambulance personnel arrived and took Bednarz first to BMC in North Adams and then transferred him to Pittsfield. 

 

According to the police investigation, the homeowner had been parked down the street from his house when he noticed someone walking down his driveway. He drove to the front of the house, parked his vehicle, and entered the house through the side door, unlocking it before entering. As soon as he entered his home, the homeowner picked up a small souvenir-sized bat that was near the door, and proceeded further into the residence. He said he walked into the room that contained his gun safe and discovered Bednarz attempting to drill into the safe. 

 

He told police he decided not to hit the intruder but his presence startled Bednarz, prompting him to threaten the homeowner with the power drill he was using. The homeowner fought back and a struggle ensued during which multiple items, including the small bat, a can of soup and the power drill, were used by both parties. The homeowner was finally able to physically restrain Bednarz but then he took the opportunity to flee the house and encountered the police officers who were arriving in response to the alert from the surveillance cameras. 

 

The homeowner told police that he wanted to call for help but could not locate his phone during the struggle.

 

Bednarz died the next day at BMC. An autopsy, including a postmortem toxicology screening, was completed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. 

 

The toxicology report identified that Bednarz tested positive for fentanyl, opiates, cocaine, cannabinoids and benzoylecgonine (a metabolite the body produces from cocaine usage).

 

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death to be, "Complications of acute fentanyl intoxication in the setting of recent cocaine used and mechanical asphyxia" and the manner of death to be, "Homicide (substance abuse and compression by other)." 

 

Homicide is a medical term used by the Medical Examiner as a classification for the death, not a legal conclusion as defined by Massachusetts General Laws, according to the DA's Office.