(© FlaglerLive via FCSO video)
When Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the intersection of Webwood Place and Webster Lane Monday evening, Ryan Walker, 28, was on the ground, unresponsive. His lips, cheeks and eyelids were bluish.
Megan Fortier, 29, told deputies that Walker had injected heroin. He’d overdosed.
Fortier told authorities that she and Walker were traveling from Daytona Beach for their children’s birthday party in Palm Coast. They stopped at Pine Lakes Golf Course. There, Fortier said she injected heroin that she obtained from an unknown location and an unknown person in Daytona. Walker did likewise, she said–and became unresponsive.
Fortier then drove the couple’s pick-up to the house of Brian Koester, 29, at 22 Webwood Place in Palm Coast. Along the way Walker threw up in the truck–a dangerous consequence of the overdose that, for an unconscious person, could result in aspiration and death.
Fortier told authorities that Koester then drove the truck to the intersection of Webwood and Webster, pulled Walker out of the truck and started CPR until deputies arrived on scene.
One of the deputies’ body cams shows the deputy preparing to administer Narcan, an opiate antidote that enables a person going through an overdose to breathe more normally and to stop possible brain damage, if administered in time. It can be either injected or sprayed up a person’s nose. In this case, the deputy asked Koester to prop up the lifeless head of Walker, then briskly sprayed the Narcan dose in Walker’s nose.
Flagler County Fire Rescue and the Palm Coast Fire Department got to the scene and took over from there, moving Walker to a rescue unit and taking him to Florida Hospital Flagler.
Insisting that she didn’t know where she got the heroin, Fortier told deputies that Walker had also consumed Xanax, the anti-anxiety prescription medication. She then gave a deputy permission to retrieve all the narcotics in the truck. She and Koester were questioned using the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Overdose Investigative Questionnaire.
Later that evening, one of the deputies went to Florida Hospital Flagler and spoke with Walker, who was alert and conscious by then. He told the deputy that he’d consumed one-quarter of a Xanax “bar” earlier that day before heading for his and Fortier’s children’s birthday party by way of a stop for heroin.
As they shot up, it was Fortier who passed out first. Walker proceeded to wake her up. Apparently not heeding the obvious warning, he then consumed the rest of the Xanax and injected himself with the rest of the heroin that Fortier had been using. He then passed out, and does not remember anything until he woke up in the hospital. He said he didn’t know where the drugs came from, according to a sheriff’s report, only that Fortier, according to him, had bought them in Daytona.
Walker, according to the report, “believes that because he took the [Xanax] and injected what he believes was a ‘stronger dose’ of heroin, that’s the reason he reacted the way he did. [Walker] did not believe that the drugs were laced or altered in any way.”
The ongoing opioid crisis, tallying some 70 deaths a day in the United States, has been aggravated by fentanyl-laced heroin, which can cause rapid and lethal overdoses.
“I’m proud of our deputies for helping to save another life with the use of Narcan, but these drug users must take notice that the drugs they are injecting are tainted and much stronger than they are used to,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “Drug users take warning – the next time you inject could be your last. Is it worth your life? If you have recently purchased heroin, turn it in to a Sheriff’s Office location no questions asked to be destroyed and seek help for your addiction.”
This is the second time in twelve days a Flagler County deputy has saved a life using Narcan.
Walker was been arrested a few times in Flagler in 2016 starting with a dealing-in-stolen-property charge, then violations of pre-trial release agreements or probation violations. He was not arrested Monday, nor was Fortier, who was arrested in 2009 for trafficking in Oxycodone, was sentenced to a year in jail and subsequently violated her probation.
Anyone with information on the sale of Heroin in Flagler County is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 386-313-4911 or email [email protected]. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1- 888-277-TIPS (8477). You could be eligible for a reward up to $5,000.
Xbadge says
Seriously?..Nothin but the best here in good ol PCoast..SO sad this town has become..Ugg….why did I move here..remind me?..lol
Fredrick says
70 deaths a day…. more deaths per day than all types of guns put together. Hmmmm…. maybe we should do something about it. Maybe an organized walk out by high school students or even better yet an organized walk over the bridge to show everyone’s outrage.
Concerned Citizen says
Bravo to the Deputies administrating the Narcan. Quick thinking on their part. And good training led to handling the situation well. I was not aware that LEO’s could administer any type of medication. I thought you had to be a Paramedic or RN/DR to to do that. And I retired from the Public Safety Sector. I guess times have changed and Florida is different.
I cannot understand why these 2 were not charged with criminal charges. They have a history and had narcotics in their possession. Almost dying from an OD doesn’t give you a free pass. Hopefully the Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate and gets DFACS involved also.
Jason says
What a great dad!
Duncan says
Who says they wont be charged? Im sure they will be. First things first, save a life, they can be charged later.
Rick Kang says
Wake up! Drugs are every where in America! Hopefully this is a “Wake Up Call” for this family and other drug users!
Not understanding says
Would like for the Sheriff to explain why no charges were made considering the female operating a vehicle was under the influence of drugs and could have seriously injured not only herself, her passenger or innocent people in the community? Both were in possession of illegal drugs, both were using illegal drugs and admitted to it yet no charges. So if someone overdoses and the Sheriffs department and EMTs/Paramedics save their life with a costly drug the tax payers foot the bill for there are no charges…seems completely fair and somehow this is supposed to help with the opioid problem, that’s logical smh. Seriously. This isn’t going to help anything because it is pretty much telling people as long as they OD, someone they are with possibly ODs or comes close, no one is held accountable or responsible. Maybe they should have to pay for the Narcan used, the ambulance transport, hospital stay along with mandatory treatment/rehab, give community service and a work condition, make sure when they are undergoing rehab/treatment they also see not just a psychologist/psychiatrist but also a neurologist to help with the damage or effects the drug use has had on their brain and to be able to treat the addiction completely. You don’t just slap them on the wrist and write a free pass. That isn’t going to help the opioid problem, the addicts, their families, or the community, it is just hindering. This County needs to invest a little more money on mental health and bring in more resources rather than pretty little flowers and bushes to be torn out and replaced every few weeks because aesthetics aren’t going to keep and maintain your residents, quality of life will.
Lilly Makarov says
I agree completely! Why was nobody charged? They both admitted to possesing and taking illegal substances, talk about served up on a platter…yet no arrests? Oh, and anyone believe that they purchased heroin in Daytona, yet waited till they got to a random parking lot to shoot up!!??? Junkies got their heroin here, probably from their “friend” that drove them away from his house before starting CPR
ur wrong says
If someone has a overdose and 911 is called for”A medical reason” the drugs must be looked past and only confiscated. The reason they passed this law is so people would not be afraid of getting in trouble and just letting them die. This law insures there is no reason to call for a medical emergency. Just as if it was a stabbing or shooting. The days of rolling the body out at the ER and hitting the gas can be over thanks to this law!
Jenn says
These people don’t realize the dangerous side effects. I truly hope they don’t have custody of their kids.
ConstantlyAmazed says
Where were the kids ?
Bc. says
I nominate him for father of the year👎
Peaches McGee says
@ Xbadge
Heroin is everywhere. It’s much, much worse in other areas of the country. Places with less population and less affluence.
If you’re that dissatisfied with PC you should try Huntington, WV.
Daphne says
So sad for their kids! Addiction is a horrific epidemic. I hope these people find a way to stay clean for the sake of their kids.
palmcoaster says
We waste our soldiers lives and trillions of our hard earned taxes fighting other countries wars instead of fighting this Opiod and other drugs war against our own people inside our country. We need an all out war against drug dealers and addict enablers playing the victim while dealing and using and hosting and bailing out providing their homes and transportation to young addicts that bring in dealers and trafficking so they can be supplied with sex and drugs. We have one of those in our block that we are fighting with our sheriff’s At least there are to the other one in Coolidge Court as the media reported. These old addicted wealthy guys residing in our community when next door have homes with school age children and families with babies and elderly too. The law protect the ones’s overdosing. Well I would change the law and after released from the hospital they should be incarcerated until they tell who is the dealer that provided them drugs. Whether the law or something has to change as looks like as is, nothing is working.
Stop politicians wasting our taxes witch hunting each other and stealing and instead use our taxes for rehab .
Steve Vanne says
Fredrick I like ur thinking 😀…
Justin says
@concerned because there are fairly new laws that protect overdose victims from prosecution
93.21 Drug-related overdoses; medical assistance; immunity from prosecution.—
(1) A person acting in good faith who seeks medical assistance for an individual experiencing a drug-related overdose may not be charged, prosecuted, or penalized pursuant to this chapter for possession of a controlled substance if the evidence for possession of a controlled substance was obtained as a result of the person’s seeking medical assistance.
(2) A person who experiences a drug-related overdose and is in need of medical assistance may not be charged, prosecuted, or penalized pursuant to this chapter for possession of a controlled substance if the evidence for possession of a controlled substance was obtained as a result of the overdose and the need for medical assistance.
(3) Protection in this section from prosecution for possession offenses under this chapter may not be grounds for suppression of evidence in other criminal prosecutions.
History.—s. 2, ch. 2012-36.
Brian says
How intelligent! “Let’s buy some heroin in Daytona from someone who we don’t know, shoot it up and just hope that it is really heroin – and to be extra smart, let’s take some Xanax to enhance the unknown substance we just shot up. Can’t wait to see the kids!”
JohnX says
This is reporting the old fashioned way. Granular detail. Pictures, facts to fill in the blanks. Brings a serious problem straight to the public. Not all stories fit well for this type of reporting, but this subject certainly does.
Drugs Suck says
Concerned citizen – The reason deputies are trained to inject Narcan is because by the time the person who has overdosed reaches a RN or DR, they’ll either be dead or brain damaged from the overdose. Narcan only works if it is used incredibly quick from the point of the overdose.
That said, Narcan is VERY expensive and while I feel for these individuals, there comes a point where they need to be at least partially financially responsible. As someone that has an addict in my family, there needs to be consequences for actions or they never learn.
I feel sorry for their children.
Anonymous says
These two should be separated and sent to long-term rehabs in areas far away from the “people, places and things” they know in Palm Coast/Daytona Beach. Once they have finished their intensive programs, they need to make a good faith effort to maintain their sobriety before being permitted supervised visitation with their children. I would say that their “relationship” is quite obviously (and literally) a “dead-end.”
Beachside Local says
Watching the live cam of the police, fire rescue and the young girls desperation is heartbreaking. I appreciate that the officials are publicizing the overdoses and drawing attention to what our EMTs, fire and police see and deal with too often. Sadly this issue is far more prevalent than most people are aware of. I am impressed and agree with Sheriff Staly these addicts need treatment not jail time. It’s proven jail will not help an addict. They will come right back out and use again most likely to OD without proper treatment especially if they are reunited with each other. Kudos to the officer who still showed Megan empathy… I don’t know that I could of or would of done the same. I hope this couple finds the help they need if not for themselves for their innocent children before it’s too late.
Born and Raised Here says
Drug use in this country makes gun violence look like a snag fishing line. Folks you’re barkin’ up the wrong tree, You want to kill to birds with one stone. Get the pusher man off the streets.
Chris A Pickett says
If you gamble with Opioids, you will lose.
capt says
Stupidity rules when Heroin is involved. And then mixing it with another drug, nothing but a death wish. In so many cases these users attempt to get help, but pressure from peers and the urge to feel good over rule their objectives. Its a huge problem. Addiction is a huge problem. The amount of drugs is amazing on school grounds, in sweet little neighborhoods. Until the government acts and the justice systems gets their heads out of the sand and dictates long prison terms for dealers and death sentences for drug dealers that lead to the induction of death nothing will ever change. Its all about the big dollars in the drug industry “a turnover of around $400 billion per annum is considered realistic.” . As long as the major drug dealers produce a young person death is the cost of doing business. Sad but true.
Interesting counter ‘Spending on illegal drugs this year’ :http://www.worldometers.info/drugs/
Marc sparks says
Jesus people, some poor kids parents almost died on thier birthday, and everyones biggest concer is the charges? Yeah another felony and some criplling ptison time is exactly whats going to get these guys clean, thats all thier other arrests havent slowed them down in any way. No, save lives first, treat the underlying problem, connect these addicts with resources, we need to offer the addict a hand up, not keep pushing them down, further down the rabbit hole pf the legal system.
knightwatch says
Fredrick… a bit disingenuous to conflate kids marching to protest gun violence in our schools with a couple of people driving up from Daytona Beach and taking drugs, wouldn’t you say?? I am a bit confused, though. Are you saying that the kids shouldn’t have walked out in a protest against guns, or that we (maybe you?) should have a similar protest against opioids? But you are right on drug-induced deaths in America which now is estimated at 64,000 (all drugs including heroin, opium, opioids, etc.) in 2016 versus 33,000 by guns.
America, we have two problems… drugs and guns.
Danno says
Marc Jesus had nothing to do with this…maybe had they gone to church with the kids and not shoot up herion things would be different.
BLM(bikers-lives-matter) says
Well it WAS just mothers day. Gotta celebrate,But might explain all the bad driving in Palm Coast.
Shark says
I guess it’s ok to drive around in Palm Coast while under the influence !!!!!!
YankeeExPat says
The Florida Abuse Hotline accepts reports 24 hours a day and 7 days a week of known or suspected child abuse, neglect, or abandonment and reports of known or suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult. To make a report you can –
report online at https://reportabuse.dcf.state.fl.us/
call 1-800-962-2873
Florida Relay 711 or TTY 800-955-8771
fax your report to 800-914-0004
If you suspect or know of a child or vulnerable adult in immediate danger, call 911.
http://www.myflfamilies.com/
D.A.R.E. says
First off Narcan is not “VERY expensive” and tax payers don’t pay for it. Trump announced its release to EMS, police, and first responders for no charge to tax payers like 4 months ago. The people who invented it have literally given it away for free. The world we live in where we don’t mind paying for a dumb orange head to go golfing whenever he wants yet we are angry about paying for something that saves peoples lives. Anyways if you don’t understand addiction or ever dealt with it personally, then stop talking like you have. We are all human, we all deserve forgiveness. I hope these two figure out what’s really important and that’s their kids not drugs.
Layla says
Yes, we are all human and we all deserve forgiveness, but not with children living in your household. Very few of these people are going to survive. It’s heroin and heroin kills. Think drugs are not destroying our lives? Think again. Heroin destroys all in its path. If you won’t save yourselves, save your children, please.
Anonymous says
Who pays for the Narcam ? Maybe an increase in drug use because they know the police will try to save them if they OD .
Tatum says
You people should be ashamed. Everyone makes mistakes. Ill have you all know I know this couple and their children and they are NOT bad people just people who made mistakes. They are clean now and have been for some time. You may want to spread your negativity but please remember anyone could become an addict, you, me, your mother father your best friend, theres no discrimination when it comes to slipping into addiction. These are good people, please try to remember that before basing your rude comments on the small information you read here.