When individuals are released from jail, their first thoughts are usually where to go and what to do next. Their heads may be spinning with thoughts of their newly found freedom. Unfortunately, old habits die hard, and there are times when people fall into the same behaviors that resulted in jail time in the first place.
A 31-year-old man who was recently released from the Waukesha County Huber Facility found himself slapped with drug possession charges only minutes after he was freed. According to police, he bought heroin from a man in the parking lot of the facility and overdosed soon afterward.
On the date of the incident, Waukesha County officers were called to a Kohl’s Department Store parking lot. The criminal complaint purports that once the officers arrived at the scene, they found the man passed out in his vehicle. His pulse was reported to have been irregular, and it was suspected that an overdose had occurred.
Fortunately, rescue workers were able to revive him, and police claim the man then admitted to buying $20 worth of heroin just outside the Huber Facility.
The suspect’s girlfriend was also at the scene, and she said her boyfriend had been released from the Huber building at approximately 4:00 p.m. When she arrived to pick him up, she claims he asked her for money and then disappeared into the facility parking lot. He eventually came back to her vehicle, where she says the suspect then injected himself with heroin. She pulled over in the Kohl’s parking lot when he apparently went into a seizure.
The suspect was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of narcotic drugs. His bond was set at $1,000, and at the time of a local news report, he was being held in the Waukesha County Jail.
While the possibility of a positive outcome may seem bleak, individuals in a similar situation should not lose hope. The prosecution may believe they have all the evidence they need for a conviction, but in the end, prosecutors must take on the burden of proof before any sort of conviction can be obtained. For that reason, an individual charged with a drug crime should never talk to police without an attorney present.
Source: Waukesha Patch, “Man buys heroin in Huber parking lot, overdoses minutes later,” Joe Petrie, June 8, 2012
