Union City police investigate 5 suspected fentanyl overdoses, 2 of them fatal, in 24 hours
UNION CITY -- Police in Union City are investigating five fentanyl overdoses -- two of them fatal -- that happened in 24 hours, authorities announced Wednesday.
First responders in the East Bay town said they have never seen anything like it.
"So it started yesterday morning, where we responded to a call for someone who was unresponsive. That individual was showing signs of overdose and unfortunately passed away," Union City Police Sergeant Jean Jimenez told KPIX.
The second call came Tuesday evening, only this time it was two people found unresponsive. One of them, a 17 year old, died at the scene. Medical personnel managed to revive the second unresponsive person found nearby and take them to the hospital. Police said signs of the use of narcotics were found near both individuals.
"Several hours after that, we respond to a call where there's another unresponsive person in the restroom in a business," explained Jimenez.
Just as first responders were rushing to save one employee in a bathroom, another employee was found unresponsive in a car outside the business. Both were treated with Narcan and hospitalized.
"It is something that I don't think Union City has experienced before," said Jimenez. "Sure, we have sporadic cases where we would respond and would have overdoses here and there. But nothing like the five that we experienced in the last 24 hours."
Union City Mayor Carol Dutra-Vernaci was dismayed by the news.
"I think the reality of a small town is we are used to things happening in the larger towns of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose," said Dutra-Vernaci. "So when it comes to our small town, it's ... it's shocking because we are led to believe those kind of things don't happen in small towns. But the reality is that it does."
All Union City first responders have been carrying Narcan since 2018. The past 24 hours have been a reminder of how essential that can be in any community. Police are investigating what might have prompted the string of incidents.
"Right now, our detectives are looking into the matter to see if it was a bad batch," said Jimenez. "They're looking into seeing what's tying all these together."
KPIX spoke by phone with the head of the company where the two employees overdosed and survived. He said the incident came as a complete shock, and was a very sudden lesson that the drug crisis is right in the workplace. He said he is working on how to move forward, just as police are trying to figure out if there is some common thread between the five cases.
Anyone with information about these events is encouraged to contact the Union City Police Department at (510) 675-5207 or at tips@unioncity.org. All information can be left anonymously.
