Two officers were hospitalized for drug exposure after a suspect allegedly threw heroin in their faces Friday morning at the police station in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
The department says the officers are incredibly fortunate not to have overdosed after 38-year-old Russell Pena of Falmouth struggled with them.
"Heroin is something like baby powder, and it just exploded," said Falmouth Police Chief Edward Dunne. "It exploded all over the officers, the room and the suspect."
All three were taken to Falmouth Hospital for treatment.
According to police, Pena and 48-year-old Michael Lopes of Mashpee were arrested early Friday morning in a parking lot by Falmouth Harbor on suspicion of dealing drugs. Police said they discovered marijuana, cocaine and $1,450 in cash in their car.
At the booking room at the station, police say Pena turned violent. He allegedly grabbed a hidden bag of heroin from his pants, ripped it open and threw it at police, landing the dusty drug on the officers' faces and clothes.
Police have not released the names of the officers involved, but Dunne said one is a sergeant and the other is a patrol officer. The two officers and the suspect were all rushed to the hospital for being exposed to narcotics and released hours later.
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"[It's] extremely dangerous because with what's in heroin today, with the fentanyl, we don't know what's in that product," said Dunne.
Police arrested Pena on charges including two counts of attempted murder, but prosecutors failed to bring up that charge in court Friday afternoon.
There is video of the altercation happening in the booking room, but police said they still had to review it and would not release it to the public without first talking with the district attorney.
Pena is being held on $5,000 cash bail.
