Heroin Overdoses in Camden Have Authorities Concerned

A second rash of heroin overdoses and a potentially related drug arrest in Camden have authorities worried about the safety of drug users and concerned about the possibility of a new, dangerous source of the drug, Camden County Prosecutor Warren W. Faulk and Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson said in a statement Friday night.

Three heroin overdose victims—all people from outside the city—were reported overnight Friday, authorities said, involving a Barrington man, a Trenton man who may have overdosed twice, and a woman whose address was unavailable.

These latest overdoses may be connected to a similar rash of overdoses earlier in May, authorities said, and police are investigating whether the same brand of heroin was responsible for both, or if there’s a new, potent source of the drugs.

A Camden man arrested in the wake of Friday’s overdoses may also be connected, authorities said.

Camden County Police nabbed Shadid Fauntleroy, 24, of the 500 block of Berkley Street, with bags of crack cocaine and heroin in a bust in North Camden, authorities said, and investigators are working to determine if he was the source of the heroin that led to Friday’s rash of overdoses.

Fauntleroy faces drug possession and distribution charges, as well as other drug offenses, and was being held in the Camden County Jail on $100,000 bail.