Investigators couldn’t determine what led to a Portland police recruit’s serious injuries in a dorm of the state’s basic police academy because other students who were with him gave inconsistent accounts and the injured officer had no memory of how he got hurt, according to the Marion County’s District Attorney’s Office.

The explanations from three police recruits who witnessed what occurred weren’t credible based on the medical evidence and revealed a “shocking lack of candor and judgment,’’ Deputy District Attorney Matt Kemmy wrote in a memo released Friday.

The injured recruit, Dustyn Matlock, 28, was knocked unconscious in a dorm room, spit up blood after he came to, complained he may have broken his arm and wondered if he was suffering from a brain bleed.

But “no one in the group called for medical attention or notified anyone in authority that Matlock was in distress,’’ the prosecutor noted.

When Matlock was suffering from clearly visible body tremors and asked the three recruits to call an Uber ride so he could go to the hospital, they refused. Instead, Joseph Delance, Austin Daugherty and Dylan Hansen “tried repeatedly to convince Matlock to just ‘take ibuprofen’ and ‘sleep it off,’'' Kemmy wrote.

If Matlock’s roommate hadn’t taken him to the hospital and Matlock had been allowed to just "sleep it off,'' he may have died due to brain swelling, according to physicians who treated him. The roommate, Jonathan Martin, wasn’t present when Matlock was injured.

Matlock was hospitalized for more than a week with a brain bleed, a cervical spine fracture of his first cervical vertebra, an orbital fracture and a broken wrist.

While not criminal, the behavior of Delance, Daugherty and Hansen on Oct. 17 raises serious concerns about their character and credibility and is “antithetical to what real officers do: protect others,’’ Kemmy wrote.

Instead of helping their fellow recruit, they made up accounts to “save themselves,'' according to Kemmy.

“Their ‘circle the wagons’ version of what took place that night is not credible,'' his memo said. "Whether their story was created by some misguided belief that they needed to cover for one another or whether it was done for self-preservation, it is disturbing either way. However, even more disturbing is their disgraceful and irresponsible attitude towards Dustyn Matlock’s injuries. ‘’

Delance, Daugherty and Hansen were allowed to graduate from the state police academy in Salem on Nov. 1. Delance was hired by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and Daugherty and Hansen by Oregon State Police.

State police Capt. Tim R. Fox said Friday night that Daugherty and Hansen have been placed on paid administrative leave while the agency conducts its own investigation. "These findings, if proven to be accurate, fall disappointedly far below the standards we expect of an Oregon State Police Trooper – which these recruits were striving to one day become,'' Fox said.

Delance also has been placed on paid administrative leave, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Sgt. Troy Gotchy said. "The conduct described in Marion County District Attorney’s Office findings does not meet the expectations of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office,'' the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

The Oregonian/OregonLive in October broke the story of the after-hours roughhousing and Matlock’s hospitalization.

Matlock, through his lawyer, said, "I am very grateful to the Portland Police Bureau and all those who have supported me throughout my recovery. I am especially grateful to the healthcare providers who cared for me in the hours and days following my injuries. My focus right now is on my health and regaining my strength so I can fully return to my training and duties.''

The state Department of Public Safety, Standards and Training chose to wait until Salem police completed a criminal investigation this week before starting an internal inquiry, said Eriks Gabliks, executive director of the department.

"I can say that in my almost 30 year career with DPSST we have never had an incident like this occur at the Academy and this is not the type of behavior we tolerate at a professional training organization entrusted with training men and women from diverse backgrounds around our state who will protect and serve our communities,'' Gabliks said in a statement.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, the injuries occurred after a number of the police recruits had gone out for dinner and drinks. Matlock and the three other recruits returned to Delance’s dorm room.

Delance, Daugherty and Hansen told investigators they were practicing so-called “clinchwork’’ when Delance grabbed Matlock in a bear hug and lifted him slightly off the ground and then let go, according to the memo.

“Matlock somehow then fell over and hit the ground. All three deny that Delance slammed Matlock in any way,’’ Kemmy wrote.

But the accounts by Delance, Daugherty and Hansen “were not supported by medical opinion evidence based on Matlock’s injuries; nor were their versions consistent with a common sense analysis of how injuries such as Matlock’s could ever be sustained,’’ he wrote.

Doctors said the injuries suggested Matlock was “body slammed’’ into the ground, Kemmy said. One physician was extremely skeptical of accounts given by Daugherty and Hansen, for example, that Matlock’s injuries could have been caused by being "dropped to the floor.''

Matlock recalled grabbing Delance’s biceps "as they tied up,'' but his memory of the events from that point forward is unclear. He told investigators that he was knocked unconscious but doesn’t know how long he was out. The next thing he recalled was waking up on the floor of Delance’s door room in extreme pain, according to Kemmy’s report.

Matlock also remembered Delance telling him, “'You’re really tough,’ ‘you’re ok,’ and that ‘you can tell everyone in Portland you’re tough,’” Kemmy wrote.

When Matlock asked what happened, Daugherty told him, “You got (expletive) tossed” and “your feet were up here,” indicating upper chest to chin height, according to the memo. Matlock also remembered that Hansen looked terrified.

When Matlock stood up, he spit blood into the sink, was unsteady on his feet and repeatedly told the others that his head and wrist hurt. No one in Delance’s dorm room notified anyone at the police academy. Instead, Daugherty tried to check Matlock’s eyes to determine if he suffered a concussion and checked WebMD to see if Matlock had signs of a brain bleed. Daugherty decided, no, Matlock was "good,'' Kemmy wrote.

By the time Matlock had returned to his own room, his roommate noticed Matlock was acting strangely. Martin, the roommate, heard Matlock moaning in the shower, said Matlock’s speech was "confused,'' his body was shaking and Matlock told him, "Something’s not right,'' according to the prosecutor’s memo. Martin left with Matlock to take him to the hospital about 10:30 p.m. From the hospital, Martin alerted a police academy supervisor.

Two of the recruits who were with Matlock when the injuries occurred refused to take a polygraph test, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Hansen refused when asked to take a polygraph about whether Delance had slammed Matlock to the ground, claiming that, "it’s just gonna be a waste of your time and money to do it, ‘cause I don’t lie ... so,’” according to the memo. Daugherty at first agreed to take the test, then obtained a lawyer and never took it.

Gabliks, the director of the department that runs the basic police academy, said none of the three recruits involved have received their police certification yet. They must complete their field training at the agencies where they were hired. Matlock was still hospitalized and unable to graduate on Nov. 1 with his class.

The public safety department will now conduct an internal review, Gabliks said.

"This incident in the dorms occurred after hours and was not connected to any DPSST training, nor was it DPSST sanctioned,'' Gabliks wrote in an email.

The dorms are on the fenced-in grounds of the state Department of Public Safety Standards and Training.

"This is a serious matter and in addition to our review, I am sure that all of the employing agencies will be looking at the information to determine what actions they may take as the individuals involved are their employees,'' Gabliks said.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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