Calaveras Inmate, Correctional Officer Hospitalized After Fentanyl Exposure

SAN ANDREAS (CBS13) — Fentanyl smuggled into the Calaveras County Jail put an inmate and correctional officer in the hospital, authorities said on Friday.

According to the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office, the correctional officer was performing routine security checks just after 5:30 p.m. Thursday when they noticed an inmate lying face down in an observation cell. The correctional officer entered the cell and called for assistance, suspecting the inmate, a 37-year-old woman from Murphys, was experiencing a medical emergency.

While aid was being administered to the inmate, the other correctional officers noticed a white powdery substance on the cell floor—later determined to be fentanyl—and moved all parties from the area.

The initial correctional officer and the inmate both showed symptoms of possible exposure and overdose of an opioid, the sheriff's office said. Narcan—an approved nasal treatment for a suspected opioid overdose—was administered to both. The officer and inmate both responded but were taken to the emergency room at nearby Mark Twain Medical Center after remaining in medical distress.

Later on, the inmate admitted to smuggling in fentanyl and using it in her cell, the sheriff's office said.

Both the inmate and correctional officer were later discharged from the hospital. The officer is expected to make a full recovery.

The inmate was additionally charged with bringing a controlled substance into jail, assault upon a correctional officer means likely to produce great bodily harm, possession of a controlled substance, and under the influence of a controlled substance. Additionally, an Amador County Superior Court warrant listed two counts of burglary with a $250,000 bail, and a Calaveras County Superior Court warrant listed a charge of receiving known stolen property with no bail.