After two separate incidents of drug overdoses involving teenagers within three days, the Hyattsville Police Department in Prince George’s County, Maryland, is issuing a warning to the public.
“The DMV has been seeing an increase in drug overdose cases, in part because of the addition of Fentanyl to illegal drugs and counterfeit prescription medications,” said Hyattsville Chief of Police Jarod J. Towers.
On Thursday, Hyattsville patrol officers pulled an unconscious 16-year-old girl from the back of a car on East-West Highway. She had overdosed on a combination of alcohol, cocaine and Percocet, and was not breathing, according to police.
Two days later, while checking on nine teenagers at Duck Pond Park who were standing around a vehicle that had been reported stolen, Hyattsville patrol officers say three of the girls began to vomit and lose consciousness. The girls were suspected to be under the influence of “alcohol and oxy,” according to a news release.
In both situations, life-saving measures were performed by officers or EMTs to revive the teenagers. The 16-year-old was in stable condition when she arrived at the hospital; the condition of the other three teenage girls isn’t known.
“While we are not yet able to definitively state the cause of recent suspected overdose cases in the City of Hyattsville, it is clearly a problem emerging across this region,” Towers said. “Everyone should be aware of the dangers of using illegal drugs and the risk of using an unknown substance that could lead to death.”
The confidential Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can be reached by calling 988.