Authorities with two agencies responded to five medical calls on Sunday believed to involve the ingestion of a synthetic drug that induces bizarre, dangerous behavior, the Bay County Sheriff's Office reported.
Medical calls began at around 10 a.m. and the final response was made at 7:23 p.m. in Parker, police said. Two of the five individuals taken to the hospital remained in the intensive care unit, as of Monday, BCSO reported.
BCSO reported it was unclear what substances were taken by the men. Parker Police recovered a substance from a vehicle, possibly synthetic marijuana, BCSO reported, and it was sent to a lab for analysis.
Anyone with information on these cases or the sale of synthetic drugs is asked to contact the BCSO at (850) 747-4700 or CrimeStoppers at (850) 785-TIPS.
The narratives from a BCSO police report follow:
The first medical call occurred at about 10 a.m. Deputies arrived at a residence at 2512 Joan Avenue, Panama City Beach, to find a white male stumbling and falling to the ground. The man had his eyes rolled back into his head and attempted to speak, but deputies were not able to understand him.
The white male became so unstable he was placed on the ground where he went into a seizure. EMS responded and he was placed into an ambulance and became extremely combative towards EMS workers. He was secured and transported to a local hospital.
At about noon, deputies again were called to Joan Avenue. Upon arrival, deputies observed another white male crawling on the roadside, talking to himself, and exhibiting the same symptoms as the man picked up earlier in the day from the same location. EMS transported this second man to a local hospital.
Shortly after 4 p.m., deputies responded to 7205 Thomas Drive, PCB, behind a condominium, and found a man in medical distress resisting assistance from EMS workers. As deputies approached, the man began to curse. When he, too, began to convulse, EMS workers and deputies were able to get him into an ambulance and he was transported to a local hospital.
At 6:30 p.m., deputies responded to Byrd Drive, Panama City, in reference to a black male running into and underneath the ambulance sent to help him. The black male was restrained to a back board for his safety and was yelling. A woman living nearby stated to deputies the black male attempted to attack her in her front yard as he walked on the street, shouting bizarre things at her.
Deputies felt the black male was a threat to others and himself. He was placed under a Baker Act to receive medical and mental health care.
At 7:23 p.m., the Parker Police Department also responded to a medical call. The driver of a vehicle appeared to be intoxicated and medically distressed, exhibiting many of the same symptoms deputies observed at the four earlier medical calls. The driver was transported to a local hospital. PPD officers found a substance they believe could be a controlled substance or synthetic marijuana.