A close grouping of apparent heroin overdose deaths has prompted the Sheriff's Office to issue a warning that there may be some unusually pure heroin on the market. Children have been taken into protective custody due to circumstances found at the home of one of the decedents.
On June 4, a 27-year-old man was found dead in his home in Lompoc, and a 32-year-old man was found dead in a Solvang hotel room. Both deaths appeared associated with heroin, based on evidence at the scenes.
The third death occurred on June 7 and involved a 31-year-old Solvang woman. A witness called in a report that a woman was running around a property on the 3100 block of Highway 246 before she fell to the ground. Paramedics and deputies found her in a field near the home, apparently dead of a narcotics overdose. The deputies searched out her husband and found him tripping on apparent hallucinogens. Two children, ages 4 and 5, were with him in the home, and narcotics and drug paraphernalia were found where the children could reach them. The man, 46, was booked on child endangerment and being under the influence of a controlled substance, and the children were placed with Child Welfare Services.