3 officers possibly exposed to fentanyl during traffic stop
Three Greenwood police officers became ill after possibly being exposed to fentanyl during a traffic stop on April 20.
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GREENWOOD, Louisiana (KTBS) — Three Greenwood police officers became ill after possibly being exposed to fentanyl during a traffic stop Sunday morning.
The officers pulled over a vehicle that didn’t have a license plate. During the traffic stop, the officers discovered that two of the four people inside the car had outstanding arrest warrants.
The driver was also allegedly trying to hide a bag of white powder. More bags and straws with white, powdery residue on them were recovered along with some fentanyl test strips.
After officers took the occupants into custody, one officer got sick; shortly after, two more officers became sick from suspected fentanyl. All three were taken to the hospital.
“One of the officers, the officer that actually made the traffic stop, ended up feeling the effects of what he believed was fentanyl. He called for help, and then one of our other officers actually administered Narcan to him, and called for the fire department. Two of the other officers that had been on the scene of that traffic stop then begin to feel what they believe were the effects of probably fentanyl as well,” said Greenwood Police Sergeant George Shaul.
Greenwood police said the officers probably inhaled the possible fentanyl while searching the car.
“Well, our officers had been trained how to deal with most of those substances. They were using gloves to protect themselves. We no longer do field testing because of the danger of fentanyl, and so we don’t open up those packages. We simply take that stuff and seal it up in evidence bags and send it off to the crime lab to let them determine what it is,” said Shaul.
Police said this incident shows just how dangerous fentanyl is.
“It takes a very tiny amount to overdose. These are very, very highly concentrated narcotics. Unfortunately, a lot of these people out there are lacing other drugs with the fentanyl in an effort to, I guess, up the high of the drugs that they’re selling,” said Shaul.
The suspects, Briauna Provost, Eric Mainous, Jackson Strickland and Bobby Davis, were all booked at the Caddo Correctional Center on charges of possession of schedule II controlled dangerous substances and possession of drug paraphernalia. The two with outstanding warrants were also booked on the warrants.
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