2 overdoses in 12 hours concerns Manitowoc police

MANITOWOC – Two drug overdoses within a 12-hour period have police concerned that there is a "bad or extremely powerful" batch of heroin on the streets, said Capt. Scott Luchertand of the Manitowoc Police Department on Friday.

According to Luchterhand:

The department and the EMS were called to the northwest side of Manitowoc at about 9:30 a.m. on Thursday for a report of a 34-year old man overdosing on drugs. On arrival, the man was found unresponsive and not breathing. City of Manitowoc EMS personnel administered the drug Narcan and were able to bring him back from near death. Detectives found a used syringe and two bindles of heroin next to the victim. He was ultimately locked up at the Manitowoc County Jail on a probation hold.

The department received another call at about 8:30 p.m. on Thursday about two people carrying what appeared to be a dead body out of a residence on the northeast side of Manitowoc. It was later found that these were actually friends of the 20-year-old man and that they had brought him to Holy Family Memorial Medical Center because of a drug overdose. This man was found unresponsive and not breathing.

Hospital personnel administered the drug Narcan and were able to bring him back from near death. It is unknown at this time what the specific drug was that caused this second man to overdose, however police know that it was some sort of opiate (opium is used to make heroin).

"We want to warn any drug users who may have purchased heroin over the past week to be even more cautious with the use of this substance especially after these two recent overdoses," Luchterhand said. "If not for the quick actions of the city of Manitowoc EMS personnel along with personnel from HFMMC administering the drug Narcan, both of these subjects would have died from their overdoses. Obviously the Manitowoc Police Department does not condone the use of any illegal drugs. However, under these circumstances, we feel an obligation to our citizens to warn them about their potential use, to try and prevent our citizens from any future overdoses/deaths."

Police are asking anyone with information about these overdoses to call (920) 686-6500.

Compiled by Suzanne Weiss: skweiss@htrnews.com