Roswell police said once they gave a driver Narcan to avoid a possible overdose, he could no longer be charged with DUI, even after witnesses say he hit several cars and forced at least one driver off the road.
“My first thought was he was impaired or having some type of emergency that he probably shouldn't be driving,” Michael Willis told Channel 2 Action News. “I saw him start driving up on the sidewalk and he was driving on the wrong side of a narrow, two-lane road.”
But any evidence of drugs or alcohol in the driver’s system was wiped out once he received medical treatment, according to a police report.
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Police got calls about a reckless driver along Ga. 92 westbound near Mountain Park Road on June 9, the report stated. Witnesses, including Willis, tried to warn other drivers and attempted to box the car in before it pulled into a school parking lot.
Officers arrived to the scene to find an “extremely lethargic” and “in and out of consciousness” driver. The man is not identified in the police report. His wife, police said, was also in the car and was nearly unconscious, but told police she was fine.
“It became pretty apparent the driver was under the influence of some type of narcotics where they had to administer Narcan to the driver to revive him,” Roswell police Officer Lisa Holland told Channel 2.
The driver’s condition and the emergency treatment prohibited any blood from being drawn, according to the report. Police noted in the report that the wife had signs of an overdose, but they did not administer Narcan. The driver was given two citations for hit-and-run, according to the report.
The couple was taken to the hospital for treatment.
“I think it's upsetting that they can't be charged,” Willis said. “…they were endangering a lot of people.”
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