photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Mason Duane Robinson is pictured during a hearing on April 6, 2023, in Douglas County District Court. Robinson is charged with distributing a controlled substance causing death in connection with the fentanyl overdose death of Angelyca Cowdin on April 14, 2022.

A Lawrence man who is charged in a fentanyl death case was arrested on suspicion of theft and interference with law enforcement on Saturday only days before he is scheduled to possibly enter a plea in the fentanyl case.

Mason Duane Robinson, 27, of Lawrence, is charged with one count of distribution of a controlled substance leading to death, a level-one felony. The charge is in connection with the death of Angelyca LeAnn Cowdin, 23, of Lawrence, whose autopsy report said she died of acute fentanyl intoxication on April 14, 2022, as the Journal-World reported.

Robinson’s case has been continued multiple times as his attorney, Angela Keck, has attempted to negotiate a plea deal with the state. Prior to his arrest on Saturday, he was out of custody on a $100,000 surety bond. He was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, when Keck was expected to tell the court whether a plea agreement had been reached or if the case should go to trial.

Robinson was arrested Saturday after Lawrence police responded to Office Depot, 2525 Iowa St., in reference to a shoplifting report around 3:50 p.m., said Sgt. Drew Fennelly of the Lawrence Police Department. A man and woman were reported as having taken items from the store, and witnesses provided police with a description of the vehicle the two suspects left in.

Police located the vehicle around 4 p.m. northbound on Iowa Street near Ninth Street, but when an officer attempted to pull the car over, the woman who was driving fled the scene. Police pursued the vehicle to the 100 block of Arkansas Street, where they were able to stop the vehicle and arrest the woman, but the man fled on foot, Fennelly said.

The woman, Riley Rhonda Cowdin, 23, of Lawrence, was taken into custody without incident and booked on suspicion of fleeing from police. She was later released on a $2,000 surety bond.

Police later located Robinson in the 500 block of West Second Street and took him into custody without further incident, Fennelly said.

It wasn’t clear if Riley Cowdin and Robinson’s alleged victim in the fentanyl death case, Angelyca Cowdin, are related.

Also charged in connection with Angelyca Cowdin’s death is William Martin Byrd, 37, of Lawrence. Byrd was also charged with distribution of a controlled substance leading to death but pleaded no contest in October to one count of “Distribution of Fentanyl under 3.5 grams,” a nonperson drug felony, according to his plea agreement.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

William Martin Byrd is pictured during a hearing on Jan. 18, 2023, in Douglas County District Court. Byrd’s sentencing for distribution of fentanyl has been continued multiple times.

As part of the agreement, Byrd agreed to testify “about the circumstances surrounding Angelyca Cowdin’s death” in the state’s case against Robinson, according to court records. Byrd is scheduled to be sentenced on July 12.

Robinson was released on a $1,000 own recognizance bond after his arrest on Saturday, meaning he was not required to put up any money to be released from jail.