‘Deeply saddened.’ Manatee County deputy loses battle with COVID

Manatee County Deputy Douglas Clark, 67, lost a two-week battle with COVID-19 and has died, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Clark, who joined sheriff’s department in February 2008, serving as a correctional deputy, spent two weeks in the hospital before succumbing to a respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

Clark oversaw inmate work projects for the Manatee County Jail’s road gang unit and is remembered as being a hard worker who tried to influence inmates and others with his ever-present positive attitude, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of Deputy Clark,” Sheriff Rick Wells said. “I ask that you please keep his family, friends and the entire MCSO family in your thoughts and prayers.”

A Line of Duty funeral service with full law enforcement honors will be held next week.

In the past year, about half a dozen retired or active-duty sheriff’s deputies or other law enforcement personnel have died in South Florida and across the South due to complication from COVID, according to news reports.

This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 9:54 AM.