ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. — Elizabethtown police are warning the community that deadly pills laced with fentanyl could be out on the streets. This follows a fatal overdose and multiple arrests on Wednesday.
Wednesday morning, just before 7:00 a.m., E’town police responded to a home about a death investigation. The victim, a 17-year-old boy, was determined to have suffered a fatal drug overdose.
Within an hour and a half of receiving the initial call, investigators identified the person suspected of distributing the narcotics to the victim. By 9:30 a.m., the suspect, also a juvenile male, was located and taken into custody. The teen suspect has been charged with manslaughter, trafficking in a controlled substance, and trafficking in marijuana
In connection with this investigation, two adults were also identified and subsequently arrested.
Damian Felker, 18, of Elizabethtown, was charged with trafficking in a controlled substance, trafficking in marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Brandon Durbin, 36, of Elizabethtown, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Both adults are lodged in the Hardin County Detention Center. The juvenile suspect will be lodged in a juvenile detention facility.
Officer Chris Denham says the drugs were clandestinely manufactured Percocet 30 tablets laced with fentanyl.
“We don’t know how many are circulating in the community, but they are very, very dangerous. Again, they resulted in likely multiple overdoses, one of which was fatal. And we’re just trying to get them off the street, and we’re trying to warn people that if they are in possession of them, to please surrender them to us, without fear of any consequence. It’s not about making an arrest or filing criminal charges at this point for possession. It’s simply about saving a life,” Denham said.
For Denham, it’s a personal issue.
“Thousands of pounds of illegal narcotics are crossing our southern border every single day. We’ve got to put a stop to that. It’s not just an area that’s plaguing our communities. It’s plaguing the entire nation. People’s lives are being lost. I personally lost a friend in March of 2016 as a result of a drug overdose,” he said.
Lauren Kathman, Harm Reduction Programs Manager for the Northern Kentucky Health Departments, said most of the time people don’t even know they’re taking it, and the smallest amount can be deadly.
“Smaller than like a little grain of salt that you would see. It is undetectable by the naked eye,” Kathman said. “If it does not come from a pharmacy prescribed to you, if you’re buying it from a friend, drug dealer, anyone, just know there is a high likelihood it is laced with fentanyl.”
The health department is trying to get naloxone, which can save someone from a deadly overdose, into as many hands as possible. It’s also distributing fentanyl test strips.
“We cannot stop someone from using drugs, but if they are going to use, we want to encourage them to use as safe as possible, to have Narcan on hand, have fentanyl test strips, never use alone, have someone with them so that someone can call 911, someone can administer naloxone to them,” Kathman said.
Denham said he wants people to be aware of the good samaritan law, which protects them from drug charges when calling in an overdose. He also said they have a duty to help.
“If you’re present during an overdose, you have a legal obligation, a legal requirement, to act and seek help. Failure to do that is a criminal act. So many people get caught up in and concerned that if they report it, they too are drug users. They’re afraid they’re going to get themselves into some kind of trouble. And that’s not the case,” Denham said.
Fighting this epidemic, he said, will take proactive education, and if that doesn’t work, proactive enforcement.
“We have to educate the public. We have to do a good job as government officials. We also have to do a good job as parents, as friends, to be present and have these tough conversations prior to the overdose occurring,” Denham said. “And if folks fail to comply with that education, then that’s where law enforcement comes in, and we have to take proactive measures, and hold people accountable who are doing bad things, bad actors that are distributing these narcotics, that are killing Americans, and destroying American families. We have to put a stop to that.”
It affects people across all demographics, and will take the work of many to push back.
The Northern Kentucky Health Department is promoting free naloxone on its website. Go to website to have free naloxone shipped to any Kentucky address, and also request fentanyl test strips.