Sequim Police Department reports that detectives continue to investigate the assault and death of local artist Richard Madeo, 70.

Deputy Police Chief John Southard said in a telephone interview that the case remains an “active, ongoing investigation” and they continue to await autopsy results from the King County Medical Examiner. Southard said he couldn’t answer questions about the investigation.

Officers arrested Aaron C. Fisher, 36, of Port Townsend on May 6 by businesses on the 500 block of West Washington Street for the alleged second-degree assault of Madeo. However, Fisher was exonerated in Clallam County Superior Court and released from jail on May 9.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michele Devlin wrote via email that he was released “so the investigation could be completed.”

“The case is still being investigated,” she said. “We want to make an informed decision and that requires the investigation be completed. Therefore, the next steps are that the investigation be completed and once I receive it, I will do a full review to determine whether to charge the case.”

Asked about pending further charges and next steps with Madeo’s assault, Devlin said she could not expound on any details of the case as she is “ethically prohibited from commenting on this matter under the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC).”

According to court documents, Sequim police and Clallam County Fire District 3 responded about 12:25 p.m. on May 6 to the assault where Madeo was on the ground unconscious, bleeding from his mouth and breathing/snoring from his mouth, with a laceration to the back of his head after an alleged altercation in the parking lot.

Madeo was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where he was on life support with a breathing machine and showing minimal brain activity, according to court documents. He died on Thursday, center officials confirmed.

At the incident scene, Fisher told Sequim Police Officer Stephanie Benes that he was walking across the shopping plaza’s driveway when Madeo drove up quickly and stopped his truck about 1 to 2 feet away, and they exchanged hand gestures and shouting, court documents state.

Fisher said he knocked off Madeo’s truck’s side view mirror, and Madeo stopped the truck again, got out, and Fisher punched him in the face, according to the probable cause statement.

In the police’s probable cause statement, Fisher told Benes he hit Madeo with his fist “square in the chin.”

“I mean, I’ve been in a hundred fights. I know where, I mean. It was self-defense,” Benes quotes Fisher as saying.

Fisher has a previous assault in the second degree charge in Jefferson County, according to court documents.

Surveillance footage from Labor and Industries’ office could not clearly show Fisher punching Madeo because they were on the other side of the truck, court documents state.

Benes writes that Madeo’s arms go stiff towards his side, and he falls from camera view with a pair of glasses falling to the ground in front of the truck.

Fisher was arrested and booked into Clallam County Jail at 4:03 p.m. May 6.

Asked why he was released, Devlin said “as a general proposition, prosecutors need to take into account an accused’s right to a speedy and public trial when making a charging decision.”

“In cases where law enforcement’s investigation is not yet complete and key questions remain unanswered, this becomes a particularly important consideration,” she said.

Asked about any potential threat to the public by releasing Fisher, Devlin said Rules of Professional Conduct prevent her from responding. She said the timeline for the medical examiner report was unknown.

City of Sequim officials said they would not release video surveillance and body cam footage from the incident as the case is still open and under investigation.

With information on the case, contact the Sequim Police Department by phone at 360-683-7227 or by email to ContactSPD@sequimwa.gov.