By Mary Pickels
Tribune-Review
SOMERSET BOROUGH, Pa. — A medication lauded for its ability to quickly revive people who have overdosed may have enabled one man to avoid arrest.
Somerset Borough police Chief Randy Cox on Tuesday said his officers recently responded to a report of two dead males inside a room at the Knights Inn on Gateway Road.
“Police were called after friends of theirs left them in the state they were in and called [Somerset County 911] to report them as deceased,” Cox said.
Officers arrived at the hotel about 11:45 a.m. Friday and determined Skyler Gerard Miller, 23, of Somerset and Christopher Lascari, 27, of Florida were still alive.
EMS personnel administered Narcan and revived both men before taking them to Somerset Hospital.
Narcan, known generically as naloxone, is a medication that quickly blocks the dangerous respiratory effects of an opioid overdose. It’s a lifesaving tool that area first responders say has been needed more frequently as overdoses have spiked in recent years.
Some first responders have reported occasional “fight or flight” responses as a person regains consciousness.
A person suddenly “awakening” from an overdose, Cox said, can “come out violent. They (can) come out swinging.”
While police did not report Miller becoming combative, he apparently did wake ready to run and fled from the hospital.
“At that point, they were not under arrest. They were under medical care,” Cox said.
The men were driven in separate ambulances and were not restrained beyond gurney straps, he said.
Police on Tuesday filed charges of possession with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia against Miller.
District Judge Kenneth Johnson issued an arrest warrant for Miller, Cox said.
At the time of his overdose, Miller was free on $25,000 bond for allegedly breaking his grandmother’s arm. That bond has been revoked, court records show.
At the motel, police found numerous packets of heroin and drug paraphernalia, including 28 stamp bags of suspected heroin, Cox said.
After being treated and released from the hospital, Lascari had the same charges filed against him by Somerset police. They returned him to Washington County on an outstanding warrant.
Anyone with information on Miller’s whereabouts is asked to contact police at 814-445-1525.
Copyright 2016 Tribune-Review