BELFAST, Maine — Two men who overdosed on drugs after crashing a car they were test-driving earlier this month in Belfast may have had their lives saved by quick-thinking police officers, according to Belfast Police Chief Mike McFadden.
A call came in at about 9 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, that a vehicle had gone off the road on U.S. Route 1 and was in a ditch. When the police officer arrived, he spoke with driver Matthew Moulton, 35, and noticed that he seemed to be under the influence of something, McFadden said this week. Moulton wasn’t able to keep his balance and performed poorly on a field sobriety test, and the officer took him into custody and brought him to the Waldo County Jail. There, Officer Rick Smith, a drug recognition expert, administered further tests.
“During those tests, Matthew became increasingly more lethargic and increasingly more difficult to keep awake,” McFadden said. “An ambulance was requested when he lost consciousness.”
First responders used Narcan to help save Moulton, who was brought to Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast, McFadden said.
Meanwhile, Moulton’s passenger had been waiting in the lobby of the Belfast Police Department for a ride to come pick him up. When police officers realized that Moulton was overdosing, they immediately went back to the station to check on the passenger.
“They found him unconscious in the lobby of the police department,” McFadden said. “The officers were able to get him back to consciousness, got him into the cruiser and rushed him to the hospital.”
The passenger received two separate doses of Narcan, the chief said.
Both Moulton and the passenger spent the rest of the night in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
“This was a case where it was extremely difficult to tell what the outcome would be if these folks were left untreated,” McFadden said. “They are two people who may not have made it, if not for crashing the car and the police showing up.”
Moulton was arrested and charged with operating under the influence of drugs. The passenger was not charged in connection with the incident.