Crime & Safety
Fairfax County Cop Hospitalized Responding To Heroin Overdose
It is unknown whether the heroin in the car contained synthetic opioids, but cops have been hospitalized before in the same manner.
TYSONS CORNER, VA — A Fairfax County police officer was hospitalized after coming into contact with opioids while responding to an overdose call, according to reports.
WTOP reported that the incident happened in a parking lot in the 8100 block of Watson Street in Tysons just after noon on Oct. 17.
“One of our police officers responded to a call for service for a man passed out in a vehicle in a parking lot,” WTOP quoted Fairfax County Police Chief Ed Roessler as saying, “and unfortunately, that man overdosed on heroin.”
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It is unknown if there were any synthetic opioids mixed into the heroin, though there have been instances of fentanyl and carfentanil causing overdoses in cops just by contact with the skin.
Fentanyl is about 50 times more potent than heroin and carfentanil is about 5,000 times more potent than heroin, according to the DEA.
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“This happened in Fairfax County. It’s happened in other cities and counties throughout the United States," Roessler told WTOP.
Article image Drew Angerer/Getty Images News/Getty Images
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