Gladwin County Corrections Officer Wade Sturgeon, left, Cpl. Minda McCartney, center, and Corrections Officer Josh Vorce received commendations for saving three inmates who allegedly ingested fentanyl.
Posted on 12/17/2023 9:37:07 PM PST by nickcarraway
An inmate who allegedly brought fentanyl into the Gladwin County Jail, sickening himself and two others, is facing two new felony charges.
Paul Kotyk, 53, of Gladwin, is set for arraignment in Gladwin County Circuit Court on Monday, Dec. 18 on charges of delivery/manufacturing a controlled substance and a prisoner possessing contraband. He was bound up from 80th District Court on Thursday and remains lodged in the jail on a $100,000 cash bond.
Gladwin County Sheriff Mike Shea said that on Sept. 24, three inmates at the Gladwin County Jail were experiencing life-threatening symptoms, allegedly including Kotyk. One inmate was lying on the cell floor and turning blue, while a second inmate was collapsing and a third was experiencing severe symptoms from an unknown cause.
The corrections staff took immediate actions with life-saving techniques, performing CPR on one of the inmates who was not breathing. Shea said all three inmates were then transported by EMS to MyMichigan Medical Center Gladwin, where they received medical attention, and all three inmates survived the incident.
Kotyk was in the jail on Sept. 24 for drug charges, driving while his license was suspended/revoked and habitual offender fourth offense. His bond on those charges was $12,000.
“It’s believed that one of the inmates illegally smuggled fentanyl into the facility and the other two ingested the substance,” Shea said. “It was later confirmed by the Bridgeport Crime Lab that the ingested substance was in fact fentanyl.”
Shea said inmates sometimes smuggle drugs into the jail via the digestive tract. But fortunately, the sheriff said they don’t see a lot of drugs in the jail system because they are detected as the inmates are admitted.
“But fentanyl overall is a really, really deadly drug,” Shea said of the synthetic opioid. “We were fortunate to have the right staff members working that day because CPR is no easy task."
He said if not for the immediate lifesaving actions by the corrections staff, lives would have been lost. Two corrections officers traded off doing CPR for several minutes on one inmate and administered other first aid on the second inmate, so he would not aspirate, or choke. The third officer orchestrated safety and security measures for the rest of the facility while getting EMS staff access to the affected cell.
“All three corrections officers were recognized for their actions on Sept. 24. Corrections Officers Wade Sturgeon and Josh Vorce received or are receiving a Lifesaving Award, and Corporal Minda McCartney was honored with the Individual Commendation award," Shea said.
The sheriff said all three officers put their personal safety aside when duty called. He said officers like these report to work every day and always do more than is asked of them.
Gladwin County Corrections Officer Wade Sturgeon, left, Cpl. Minda McCartney, center, and Corrections Officer Josh Vorce received commendations for saving three inmates who allegedly ingested fentanyl.
That’s one way to make some room. NEXT!
Sounds like someone needs to try applying some vegetable oil, and maybe using a crowbar.
Regards,
Reminds me of a little dust-up between one of my lieutenants and a prison administrator. The administrator insisted on calling the prisoners “residents” or, even sillier “clients”, and insisted his subordinates did the same. My Lt, who was both a combat veteran and former military police CID investigator looked the administrator straight in the eye and said “F*** that, they’re convicts!” The administrator never mentioned it again.
CC
Surprised the administrator didn’t call them “customers”. WTF!
The administrator was fired about a year later for rank incompetence.
CC
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