Detectives hospitalized after inhaling mysterious powder during search

Two California sheriff detectives were hospitalized after being exposed to an unidentified substance while investigating the property.

Detectives were investigating an apartment in the community of Reseda – located in the San Fernando Valley – on Tuesday morning when the incident occurred, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said.

Two detectives, who are executing warrants in connection with a commercial burglary that took place in January, inhaled a powdered substance before becoming unconscious, Ventura County Sheriff Captain Denise Silva said.

The officials then had to be removed from the apartment by a fellow detective.

The two detectives were taken to hospital, where they were evaluated by paramedics. Their condition is reported to be stable, according to the latest information available.

A woman who was in the apartment at the time of the investigation was also treated at the scene after being exposed to the stimulant and is expected to be fine.

A hazmat team from the Los Angeles Fire Department visited the apartment after the incident and tested the substance to try and determine what it was.

“We were concerned, is it a drug that can make someone lose consciousness like that?” Silva said. ”So they’re going to test that explicitly, and try to determine what the substance is. Those things are always on our mind. We take precautions. But these incidents still happen and are scary. ”

Newsweek has contacted the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office for comment.

This is not the first time law enforcement officials have been exposed to hazardous substances in the course of their work.

In May last year, six Phoenix police officers were taken to the hospital as a precaution after being exposed to pepper spray, and potentially methamphetamine or fentanyl, after reacting at a city apartment. city.

“Our officers responded to this site with people running from an apartment screaming that they were being held against their will,” Sgt. Phoenix’s Ann Justus Police speak.

Four people stayed in the apartment and are said to have been using meth and fentanyl throughout the day. At one point, one of the two “became upset” and wouldn’t let the other three leave, while brandishing a weapon.

In the end, one of the hostages sprayed pepper spray on the suspect and escaped with the other two. When police officers arrived at the apartment, they entered a mist of pepper spray. Officers also reported that there was another unidentified substance in the air — possibly fentanyl.

In November 2020, some Amazon workers was hospitalized after being exposed to an “unknown substance” at one of the company’s distribution centers in Eastvale, California.