A Gardiner man arrested last week for allegedly stabbing another man in the stomach had to be revived with multiple doses of Narcan when he was arrested by police, according to court records. Officials suspect he had ingested drugs while they were pursuing him.
Hector Rivera, 26, fled from Kennebec County and Maine State Police officers when they responded to a report of a stabbing at 553 Maine Ave. in Farmingdale on June 7. Kennebec County Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Ross found a man bleeding from the stomach and the wound “was obviously deep causing heavy bleeding with tissue exposed from his stomach area,” according to an affidavit filed by Detective John Bourque.
Police learned the man suspected of the stabbing fled on foot before they arrived.
Deputies, with assistance from Maine State Police, blocked off an area near the Kennebec River Rail Trail and called for the sheriff office’s K-9 unit handler and dog, Deputy Jeff Boudreau and Vixen, to track Rivera, according to Lt. Chris Read.
Less than an hour later the dog had pushed Rivera back toward the crime scene and police apprehended him after a “brief struggle” involving the K-9, according to a news release sent by Read the day after the incident.
Bourque’s affidavit states that while Rivera was being secured and awaiting an ambulance crew to respond for a dog bite, apparently from the sheriff’s office’s dog, he began to exhibit signs and symptoms of a drug overdose, and police suspected he had ingested unknown drugs while he was fleeing from them earlier. Deputies and state troopers administered seven doses of Narcan, a drug which counteracts the effects of an opioid overdose, and performed chest compressions until rescue arrived and transported him to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta.
It is safe and sometimes necessary to administer Narcan, also known as naloxone, multiple times to someone experiencing an overdose, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a federal agency that supports research on drug use and addiction. Repeat doses are typically linked to cases that involve large quantities of opioids or highly potent synthetic ones, such as fentanyl, and the drug can be given every two to three minutes until the person starts breathing normally.
Rivera was treated at the hospital and discharged June 9, according to a MaineGeneral spokesperson. He was then arrested and is being held at Kennebec County jail on $50,000 bail.
Sheriff’s office officials declined to release the identity of the victim, other than describing him as a 31-year-old Farmingdale man, but court documents identify him as Mark E. St. Clair.
Police interviewed St. Clair only briefly, because he was struggling to communicate as he was being prepared for surgery at MaineGeneral Medical Center following the incident, according to Bourque’s affidavit. He told police he was arguing with Rivera, whom he knew as “Vinny.” He said he pushed Vinny while they were in the bedroom of a 553 Maine Ave. apartment, and Vinny responded by stabbing him in the stomach.
Hospital officials could not confirm that St. Clair had been admitted. Read said the last he knew the victim was doing well.
Deputies, at the hospital, took possession of the St. Clair’s blood-soaked clothing and what the affidavit states was Rivera’s clothing.
On June 9 Bourque processed the items that police had collected from the hospital and found, in the rear pocket of Rivera’s pants, a red folding knife. He said he could see the knife had red-brown stains on it, which he said were consistent with blood. He said when the knife was opened the red-brown stains were more clearly visible and there were darker dried pieces stuck to the blade. The knife, Bourque wrote, would be sent to the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory.
Deputies also found a clear plastic bag in Rivera’s clothing that police said contained 4.7 grams of crack cocaine.
Rivera, according to the criminal complaint filed in court, was charged with aggravated assault, unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, violating a condition of release, refusing to submit to arrest and falsifying physical evidence. He did not enter a plea at his June 10 initial court appearance.
Read said Vixen, a Dutch shepherd with the sheriff’s office since 2018, is certified with Law Enforcement Dogs of Maine and the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in K-9 obedience, agility, evidence recovery, tracking, building searches, and criminal apprehension with and without gunfire.
Read said Rivera tried to run away when he was confronted by police, who warned him the dog would be deployed if he did not stop. Boudreau gave Vixen the command to apprehend Rivera while she was on a leash.
Read said all deputies that have been trained in the administration of Narcan and carry it with them, which he said was all but maybe one or two officers.
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