By Andru McCracken
In a bizarre case, a woman and man were pulled over by the Valemount RCMP after workers at a gas station found evidence of drug use in the bathroom and both then overdosed in police custody.
They were arrested for possession of a controlled substance in plain view. The man also had warrants out for his arrest.
After exiting their vehicle, they were placed in the police cruiser. Shortly after, they lost consciousness.
“During the vehicle stop both the driver and the passenger succumbed to an overdose and were rushed to the Valemount Health Clinic in the police car,” said Corporal Jacob Joslin.
The ambulance was on site, but paramedics asked the police to transport them in their vehicle, said Joslin.
“They were treated for several hours at the Valemount Health Clinic before one was transported to Prince George for further medical treatment,” he said.
“They were so high they couldn’t stay conscious.”
Steve Johnson, owner of the local Petro-Can franchise noticed a woman go into the bathroom at about 7am and not come out until 8am. He mentioned to an employee who said that the same woman had been in and out of the bathroom 10 times since 6 am that morning.
“That just clicked something for me that was like well, okay, something can’t be right for them,” he said.
He checked out the washroom.
“There was cocaine all over, all over the floor, all over the dispenser,” he said. They subsequently found drug use paraphernalia in the garbage can.
An employee then called the RCMP.
“They were really in no condition to be traveling or driving or anything,” he said.
Joslin praised two members of the public for calling in the problem.
“They are the heroes in this story,” he said.
Joslin said there was a combination of drugs, as yet unidentified.
“If you are basically unconscious, how would you make out driving? Members of the public stepped up and saved the day before something happened.”
Joslin said that the medical emergency took precedence over the investigation but the car was impounded, drivers license seized and further charges are pending.
“There should be kudos to the employee(s) that recognized this and called it in,” he said.
