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Cops find two passed out from heroin
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police found two people passed out after purportedly taking heroin Sunday and early Monday, and one of those people escaped from a hospital where he was being treated after he was found unconscious.
About 1:45 a.m. Monday, police were called to a home in the 1600 block of Glenwood Avenue on the South Side, where they found Brian Lewis, 40, of West Earle Avenue, unconscious on the floor being treated by paramedics. A needle was still in his arm and was filled with a substance believed to be heroin.
Lewis was revived with a substance known as Narcan, which is used to treat heroin overdoses. Reports said Lewis denied taking heroin, even though he passed out with a needle in his arm.
The homeowner told police he had met Lewis at the Mahoning County jail recently but did not know his last name.
Lewis was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center to be examined and later was taken to the jail on charges of possessing drug-abuse instruments and possession of heroin.
About 9:35 a.m. Sunday, police were called to an accident on the East Side at McGuffey Road and Berkley Avenue where they found Ralph Meta, 40, passed out behind the wheel of his car. He also was treated with Narcan, and officers found a bag of suspected heroin in the side door pocket and a needle in the car.
He was taken to St. Elizabeth’s with a police hold on charges of possession of drugs heroin and possession of drug-abuse instruments as well as traffic charges for the accident. Meta was warned not to leave the hospital or he could be charged with escape. However, reports said he walked away from the hospital and was found at the Taco Bell restaurant on Fifth Avenue by Humility of Mary Health Partners Police about 3 p.m. and returned to city police, who booked him into the jail.
On Friday afternoon, police found another man, Franklin Barwick, 29, passed out in a van in the parking lot of a Glenwood Avenue store as his young son was inside the store. A bloody needle was found inside the van and he admitted to paramedics that he injected himself with heroin, reports said. He was taken to the jail on drug and child-endangering charges, reports said.