Officer OD’s after contact with fentanyl

EAST LIVERPOOL — An eastern Ohio officer was revived with four doses of Narcan after he accidentally came into contact with fentanyl during a traffic stop and overdosed.

Patrolman Chris Green of the East Liverpool Police Department joined in a roadside investigation Friday evening after other officers blocked in a vehicle they believed was involved in a drug transaction, according to CBS affiliate WKBN-TV in Youngstown.

“We think they were trying to flee, but they were blocked in,” East Liverpool Capt. Patrick Wright told the station. “Once they got blocked in, they tried to dispose of the evidence in the vehicle.”

“There was white powder on the seat, on the floor, on the guy’s shoes and on his clothing.”

Police arrested both the driver and passenger in the vehicle, identified as Justin Buckle, 25, of East Liverpool, and Cortez Collins, 24, of Cleveland, and searched the vehicle.

After Green conducted the search and returned to the police station, WKBN-TV reported, a fellow officer noticed that Green had white powder on his shirt.

“Just out of instinct, he tried to brush it off — not thinking,” Wright said.

An hour later, Green passed out in the police station, suffering from a suspected overdose from the white powder, which police believe was fentanyl. Police said fentanyl can enter the body through the skin.

“They called an ambulance for [Green] and the ambulance responded for him,” Wright said. “They gave him one dose of Narcan here and then transported him to East Liverpool City Hospital, where they gave him three additional doses of Narcan.”

Wright told the station Green was fine as of Sunday.

Wright said the case is an example of how the drug epidemic has forced officers to change how they work.

“We changed our procedures to where we used to field-test drugs,” Wright said. “We don’t do that any longer because of accidental exposures.”

The suspects, Buckle and Collins, have been charged with tampering with evidence.

East Liverpool is located on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border about 40 miles south of Youngstown.