Police: Man parked car on road, found overdosing

Police reported finding a 30-year-old Columbus man overdosing in the driver’s seat of a vehicle that was parked in the wrong direction on Helmsburg Road.

Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Colton Magner responded to the 1900 block of Helmsburg Road on Sept. 22 just after 9:30 p.m. Dispatch reported that a man was unconscious in the vehicle. He was later identified as James Bray.

Magner and Deputy Kyle Minor found the vehicle facing south in the northbound lane with its bright headlights still on and found Bray slumped forward, buckled in the driver’s seat, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The vehicle was running with the radio on and it was in gear. Magner reached through the window to shut the car off and put it in park. He then attempted to wake Bray up, but he would not wake, and Magner noted that he had labored breathing along with saliva coming from his mouth that was falling onto his clothing, the affidavit states.

EMS arrived on scene and administered Naloxone to Bray, which reverses a narcotics overdose. Magner reported finding a part of a straw in Bray’s wallet when he opened it to find identification, according to the affidavit.

After receiving the Naloxone, Bray began to wake up and said he did not know what he had used, but he later admitted to snorting heroin. He would not tell police where he had been driving from, but that it was on Carmel Ridge Road.

Bray failed three field tests and submitted to a chemical test. He was taken to the hospital for a blood draw and medical clearance before he was booked into the jail.

While searching Bray’s car, Minor reported finding aluminum foil with heroin inside Bray’s wallet. At the jail, Bray admitted to snorting heroin before driving.

On Sept. 23, Bray was charged with possession of a narcotic drug, a Level 6 felony; operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor; and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.