A Minneapolis man was charged with two felonies Monday after he allegedly smuggled heroin into the Hennepin County jail last week and gave it to three inmates who overdosed within a half-hour of each other, according to the county attorney's office.
Eugene Samuel Olson, 33, is charged with second-degree sale of heroin and second-degree possession of heroin, as well as introducing an illegal drug into a jail, a gross misdemeanor. He was set to make his first appearance in court Monday.
Three inmates overdosed Wednesday while in the court holding area of the jail, the criminal complaint states.
One inmate passed out inside a booth at the end of his hearing, prompting jail medical staffers to administer two shots of Narcan and transport him to a hospital.
While he was being treated, deputies rushed to another cell where an inmate was having seizures.
Staffers put an oxygen mask on the second inmate and injected Narcan, stabilizing him and also taking him to a hospital, according to the complaint.
A short time later, a third inmate began vomiting while being escorted from his cell, prompting treatment by a jail nurse.
The inmate told deputies he had taken what he thought was Tylenol given to him by another prisoner, the complaint states.
Witness descriptions led deputies to Olson.
They searched him and recovered six grams of heroin from his navel and buttocks, according to the complaint.
Olson told deputies the heroin was laced with fentanyl. The recovered drugs were being tested.
Olson was in jail because he failed to appear in court for two felony car theft cases in Hennepin County. He is also charged in St. Louis County with third-degree drug sale.
Ryan Faircloth • 612-673-4234
Twitter: @ryanfaircloth
