Hyannis Man Swallowed Fentanyl, Heroin During Arrest: Police

YARMOUTH, MA — A Barnstable drug suspect "well-known" to Cape Cod law enforcement survived after swallowing a bag of fentanyl and heroin during a recent struggle with police officers, authorities announced Tuesday. Lonnie Lewis, 35, was administered laxatives to pass the drugs while in custody, police said. He was charged with drug possession, resisting arrest and conspiracy and released on $40 bail.

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Two other suspects — Catherine Beckwith, 45, and Michael Johnson, 46, both of Yarmouth, were also arrested during the incident. Police said on Friday at about 9 p.m., an officer said he noticed a "suspicious" gray Ford Explorer pull into a secluded corner of the Cape Cod Hospital employee parking lot.

"(The officer) approached the Explorer's open driver's side window and found Michael Johnson in the driver's seat with a rubber tubing band around his arm used for IV drug use," Yarmouth police said in a statement. "Lonnie Lewis was seated in the front seat with a plastic Tupperware cover in his lap with a line of white powder, and Catherine Beckwith was positioned in the rear, and leaning over the front center console between Johnson and Lewis."

Police said trio are "illegal drug users and well-known" to Cape Cod law enforcement. Lewis refused to exit the vehicle and got into a struggle with the officer, at which point Lewis grabbed a bag of fentanyl and heroin and swallowed it, police said. Concerned that Lewis could die from the drugs he ingested, he was transported to Cape Cod Hospital and administered laxatives to pass the drugs, which he did, police said.

Johnson was charged with drug possession and conspiracy; Beckwith was charged with conspiracy and knowingly being present where heroin is kept. Both were released on $40 bail, police said.

Lead photo: Lonnie Lewis. (Credit: Yarmouth Police Department)