Two Leelanau County sheriff’s deputies were forced to use a life-saving drug on each other after being exposed to fentanyl.
The deputies were talking with the owner of an abandoned vehicle who had returned to her car, found weapons and had reasons to believe the woman was also in possession of drugs.
Deputies started a search of the woman’s backpack, but when they opened it, Sheriff Mike Borkovich says an aerosol powder came up into the air and immediately made the deputies feel sick. “They had opened a backpack and the backpack actually had some sort of aerosol powder, of some kind of substance, came up in the air,” said Borkovich. “When they unzipped it both deputies immediately became nauseous or dizzy.”
They had to use naloxone on each other to counteract the effects of fentanyl. The medication is designed to rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
“The deputies self-administered naloxone one time and had the same symptoms. Administered a second time. The one deputy’s heart was beating between 220 and 240 beats per minute,” the sheriff says.
One deputy was taken to the hospital for observation, but both are okay.
Sheriff Borkovich says officers used a TruNarc drug testing device to determine that the substance was fentanyl mixed with methamphetamines. The device gives police almost instant identification about suspicious substances and verifies what kind of drug they’re dealing with. It was purchased with a 2% funding allocation from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
“That machine was used for the third time in the last few weeks. It told us immediately it was a fentanyl exposure,” Sheriff Borkovich says.
The sheriff adds that the Narcan was also supplied by the Grand Traverse Band as well as Catholic Human Services.
“Fentanyl is pretty much what’s killing people right now. So a caution to everybody to be aware of that.” He adds, “We’re just very thankful to have Narcan in our inventory. They were smart enough to self-administer it.”
The sheriff also says members of the Suttons Bay-Bingham Fire and Rescue Department and Tribal Police assisted at the scene.
The suspect’s car was impounded. A Suttons Bay woman was arrested and is now in jail facing multiple charges, which could include possession of fentanyl and possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver.
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