Police Revive Heroin Overdose Victim at Smith Haven Mall

Suffolk police on Friday revived a 23-year-old male they believed to be suffering from a heroin overdose in a car in a Smith Haven Mall parking lot.

Officers Audrey Santanello, John Paul O’Connor, and William Schneider responded at 6:12 p.m. to a 911 call reporting that an unconscious man was turning purple while sitting in a car in the parking lot at 1 Smith Haven Mall.

The victim's friend told police that he had a history of heroin use, and after Santanello administered a dose of the anti-opiate-overdose prescription drug Narcan, the victim regained consciousness.

Centereach Ambulance transported the victim to Stony Brook University Hospital.

The SCPD is authorized to administer Narcan under a state Department of Health pilot program launched in Suffolk in 2012 that equipped vehicles in all Suffolk County Police precincts, along with the Marine Bureau and the Emergency Service Station, with the drug for these types of circumstances.

To date, the SCPD has made 67 saves since the program was launched in August of 2012, and 943 police officers have received Narcan training, according to a police spokesperson.