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Charleroi Regional police respond to 8 heroin overdoses

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Charleroi Regional police have had eight reports of heroin overdoses since Monday, including one that killed a 35-year-old man.

Detective Chad Zelinsky said four of those occurred Thursday, with two of the victims found in an alley.

“Unfortunately, we are getting hit with it, and the people are of different ages and backgrounds,” Zelinsky said. “One of the people who overdosed on Thursday was a 47-year-old man.”

Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone said 38 overdoses have been reported throughout the county since Sunday, with at least three of the victims dying, including the 35-year-old found dead in his Charleroi home.

On Sunday, police and emergency responders from across the county investigated 17 reports of drug overdoses. Jeff Yates, Washington County public safety director, said that is about three times more than usual in a 24-hour period.

Washington police responded to five overdose calls, including one fatal, between 7:44 and 8:50 p.m. Sunday.

Vittone said police have used Naloxone, also known as Narcan, to revive five overdose victims since Sunday, including one in California Thursday, when a California University of Pennsylvania police officer administered the drug to a patient who was an unconscious passenger in a vehicle driven to the station by a friend.

On Sunday, Canonsburg police used it to revive a woman who had overdosed en route to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.

Zelinsky said the overdoses Charleroi police have dealt with are from bags bearing the same stamp. He said it is frustrating for police because they are usually limited when it comes to filing charges, even for possession of paraphernalia, as a result of the state’s recently enacted Good Samaritan Law.

The law protects the person who calls for help for the person who to reports the overdose.

Vittone said it depends on the situation as to whether the victim can be charged.

“I think the goal is to get them into treatment,” Vittone said.

Vittone said the problem has not been limited to Washington County, with Westmoreland County including the Monessen area, experiencing a similar surge.

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