Six people overdose at Bailey’s Crossroads apartment, as police warn about a fatal batch of fentanyl-laced cocaine
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| Police Chief Kevin Davis (left) and 1st Lt. Patrick Brusch speak at a briefing on overdoses. |
After six people overdosed Tuesday morning in Bailey’s Crossroads, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis warned
“there is likely a fatal batch of cocaine laced with fentanyl in our community right now.”
Officers responded just after 3 a.m. to an apartment in the 5500 block of Seminary Road after the mother of one of the victims found several individuals unresponsive in her apartment and called 911, Davis said during a briefing on Sept. 21. When officers arrived, they discovered one woman unconscious on the sidewalk and immediately rendered aid.
As additional officers arrived, four men and a woman were found unconscious inside the apartment. Police officers and fire and rescue personnel administered Narcan to all six individuals. Narcan (also called Naloxone) is a medicine that can reverse an overdose.
“Having this treatment undoubtedly saved all of their lives,” Davis said.
The six overdose victims, ranging from 23 to 35 years of age, were taken to local hospitals for further treatment. “One man is clinging to life,” Davis said. “Five are lucky to be alive,” and four of them remain hospitalized and are recovering.
Preliminarily, detectives determined the victims were at a club earlier in the evening called Babylon Futbol Café in
Alexandria and returned to the apartment where they ingested what the police suspect was cocaine laced with fentanyl.
First Lt. Patrick Brusch, assistant commander of the FCPD Organized Crime and Narcotics Division, said detectives recovered a white powdery substance inside the apartment. That substance has been sent to the Virginia Department of Forensic Science for further analysis.
FCPD doesn’t know where the overdose victims got the drugs, Davis said. The police are not investigating the Babylon Café, but if other people who were there acquired fentanyl-laced cocaine, “we want them to hear this message,” he said. He urged them to flush it down the toilet or turn it in anonymously at any Fairfax County Police station.
Fatal doses of cocaine and heroin are often laced with fentanyl and carfentanyl, he said, “which are dangerous synthetic opioids which can be lethal with even the smallest dose.”
Just last week there were five overdoses in Fairfax County, Davis said. All of those victims survived.
There have been 55 fatal overdoses – and 201 nonfatal overdoses – this year in Fairfax County through Sept. 19, he said. In 2020, Fairfax County police responded to 239 overdoses, up 51 percent from 2019. There were 80 fatal overdoses in 2020, including 45 in which fentanyl was listed as a contributor.
Calling this a “homegrown problem,” Davis said 80 percent of the fatal and nonfatal overdoses last year were Fairfax County residents. The youngest overdose victim was a 14-year-old child; the oldest was 63.
“It’s also concerning that 75 percent of those who died of a fatal overdose last year previously survived a nonfatal overdose,” Davis said. Some people have been given Narcan several times.
The police department’s full-time overdose investigator spends an average of 90 hours on each case, he said. More than 150 search warrants were executed last year related to opioid investigations. Nine suspects were charged with drug offenses. The FCPD is mainly interested in arresting drug dealers and providing treatment for victims.
Davis urges anyone who feels they or someone else might have overdosed to call 911 immediately.
“Education continues to be our best combatant in this fight to save lives,” he said. Police officers regularly speak with students, nurses, PTAs, Rotary clubs, and community advisory committees about the dangers of opioids.
Symptoms of opioid overdose include some of the following:
- Loss of consciousness
- Pinpoint pupils
- Snore-like gurgling sounds
- Low, shallow, or erratic breathing
- Bluish purple or ashen skin color
- Nausea or vomiting
- Blue or blackish fingernails
Anyone who has a family member, friend, or neighbor who might be at risk of overdose should sign up for free REVIVE! training on the use of NARCAN through the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board,
Davis said.
He also encouraged anyone who needs help overcoming drug dependence to call the CSB at the Merrifield Center, 703-573-5679, to find treatment and recovery services. Help is available 24 hours a day. Walk-ins are also welcome Monday through Friday. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.