A Fruitland Park man was arrested after surviving an overdose from a batch of methamphetamine he cooked up in a loft over a garage.
Police were called in reference to the overdose at 8:13 p.m. Friday by residents of a home on Tommy Lane, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department.
Upon arrival, the officer was directed to a loft above the garage located east of the residence. One of the residents told the officer that 26-year-old Dylan Matthew Brown McHale was inside lying on the floor, the report said.
The officer entered the building to find McHale fidgeting in the bathroom sink, the report said. For his own safety, the officer told the two other residents to sit on the living room floor so he could tend to McHale. The officer returned to McHale and found him lying on the floor in the doorway between the bedroom and kitchen. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, but was breathing and had a pulse. He was also sweating profusely, leaving his clothes completely soaked.
While McHale was being treated by medical personnel, the officer began to search the loft for any narcotics or paraphernalia in plain view. He went to the bathroom sink first, where he saw cotton swabs under the sink drain. They appeared as if they had been intentionally washed down the bathroom sink. A plastic bag with a large amount of crystallized substance, suspected to be methamphetamine, was also found on the bathroom counter, the report said.
The officer then placed McHale in handcuffs and escorted him to his patrol vehicle, the report said. McHale informed the officer that he had a bag of fentanyl in his pocket. He also told the officer that he usually smokes fentanyl. Two pieces of rolled up tin foil were found in McHale’s pant pocket that were later found to contain a burnt residue, suspected to be burnt fentanyl.
A further search of the bathroom revealed a glass device used for smoking methamphetamine in the cabinet under the sink. A plastic bin containing drain cleaner, cold packs, coffee filters, pliers, funnels and other paraphernalia commonly associated with making methamphetamine was also found. On top of the plastic bin was a plastic bag containing a white powdered substance that was suspected to be fentanyl. A small plastic bag of suspected methamphetamine was found on the kitchen counter in plain view.
Additionally, the report stated field tests were completed for the powered and crystallized substances, both of which tested positive for fentanyl and methamphetamine.
The Leesburg native was arrested and charged with trafficking methamphetamine, possession of fentanyl, possession of drug paraphernalia, and tampering with evidence. He was transported to the Lake County Jail with bond set at $7,000.
He had been arrested with drugs in 2021 in Lady Lake.
