Petaluma Teen Dies From Drug Overdose; Police Investigating

PETALUMA, CA — Detectives with the Petaluma Police Department are investigating the fatal overdose this week of a teenaged boy.

The boy was found dead shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday inside his residence in the 300 block of Wilson Street when Petaluma police and fire personnel responded to a report of an unresponsive person.

Detectives found drug paraphernalia near the boy's body and spoke with a family member and a friend about his last whereabouts in the hours leading up to his death, Petaluma police Lt. Tim Lyons said.

"An autopsy was conducted on Wednesday and an initial cause of death appeared to have been overdose-related," Petaluma police Lt. Tim Lyons said.

Detectives were awaiting further toxicology reports Friday.

"Detectives are actively investigating this incident and we are not releasing the name of the juvenile," Lyons said. "The juvenile did reside at the residence on Wilson Street."

It was one of at least 19 overdose-related deaths and 41 overdose-related calls recorded in the city this year, the lieutenant said.

"The actual number is presumably much higher, due to some overdose patients going directly to a hospital without police knowledge and some calls being reported as a medical call for service which police usually do not initially respond to," Lyons said.

"Petaluma Police Department would like to remind everyone in the community that Section 11376.5 of the California Health and Safety Code prohibits the arrest or prosecution of any person under the influence of narcotics, in possession of narcotics, or in possession of drug paraphernalia when they seek medical assistance for a person experiencing an overdose and they do not obstruct medical or law enforcement personnel.

"Petaluma Police Department requests 9-1-1 be promptly called at the first signs that someone may be overdosing or having a medical emergency. Petaluma PD officers have been equipped with Narcan, a medication used to block the effects of opioids since 2018 and have administered it several times a year to subjects they have encountered who have overdosed."

Police asked anyone with information about this incident to call Detective Zeus Rivera at 707-778-4444.