HOUSTON – A Houston Police Department officer is recovering after he was hospitalized following a possible drug exposure incident at a Houston hotel.
The officer was responding to a trespassing call shortly after 6 a.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on U.S. 59 South near Gessner Road.
The case is the first time law enforcement has heard of an officer having to self-administer Narcan.
“We still don’t know the substance yet,” said HPD Lt. Michelle Chavez. “We’re still waiting on lab results.”
Police say when officers searched the room of the guest they found dozens of pills.
Then they say the officer confiscating the narcotics began to feel sick.
“Once he realized what was happening, he administered Narcan,” Chavez said.
Narcan is an emergency nasal antidote carried by law enforcement.
It is used to inhibit the deadly effects of opiates during an overdose.
The drug has become standard carry among law enforcement officers across the country and is normally given to patients suspected of drug overdose.
“We haven’t seen an officer give it to himself,” said Houston Police Officer’s Union president Joe Gamaldi. “But at least this officer was aware enough that he was having the effects of some sort of substance ...
"It might have saved his life.”
The officer was transported to the hospital and released, according to police.
The suspects who were in the room Tuesday night have not been caught.
