GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A detective sickened while testing a white powder at the Kent County Sheriff’s Department was treated with Narcan as a precaution, according to Chief Deputy Kevin Kelley of the sheriff’s department.
It happened around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the agency’s building at 701 Ball Ave. NE in Grand Rapids.
The Grand Rapids Fire Department tells 24 Hour News 8 a Kent County sheriff’s deputy found the powder during a traffic stop Monday night. The substance was taken back to the sheriff’s department for testing.
Kelley says a Wyoming officer with the Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team started feeling nauseous and his heart rate increase while testing the unknown substance. His symptoms were similar to those caused by a drug exposure, the sheriff’s department said.
The detective was given the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan as a precaution and taken to a local hospital for blood tests, Kelley said. The officer is conscious and alert and his condition is improving, authorities said.
The detective bureau floor of the Kent County Sheriff’s Department was evacuated as crews responded to the call, but no one was forced out of the building. The substance has been contained and no other person was exposed, the fire department says.
Kelley said a hazmat team is waiting on the officer’s blood test results to determine what the officer was exposed to before they go in to check the air quality of the floor.
Once the air quality is cleared, the floor will be reopened.
Kelley said an internal investigation will be conducted to determine if the officer followed proper procedures when he was sickened.