Police & Fire News
- Odor of gas causes evacuation of SCNB's Riverhead headquarters
- Man accused of murdering Riverhead woman strangled her during rape: prosecutors
- Police charge Riverhead man with murder of woman found behind shopping center
- Level 3 sex offender dragged woman into the woods at knifepoint, police say
- Two sent to hospital after single-car crash on Nadel Drive
- Short-circuit brings firefighters to Toys R Us
- Three-car crash on Sound Ave. sends two to PBMC
- Riverhead Police blotter May 10-13, 2012
- Riverside youth pleads guilty in November shootings
- Riverhead Police blotter May 5-9, 2012
An attack on Southampton Town police officers yesterday by two men high on pot laced with embalming fluid sent one officer to the hospital for treatment of a bite wound, according to police.
Southampton police said two officers responded to a report of two men fighting outside the Budget Host Inn in Riverside Saturday morning at about 10:55 a.m.
Police said they found Julian Wright, 38, of Riverhead and Tracy T. Mitchell, 37, of Flanders, fighting in the motel parking lot. When the officers approached the pair, they turned on police, physically attacking the responding officers, according to the police report.
In the ensuing struggle, Wright bit one of the officers, police said. The officer was treated and released from Peconic Bay Medical Center for a laceration and swelling on his hand, according to the report.
Police said investigation at the scene revealed both subjects had been smoking marijuana laced with embalming fluid.
Known on the street as "Amp," "Fry," "Wet," "Illy" and "Wack," embalming fluid-laced marijuana is a growing drug trend, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
Embalming fluid — a compound of formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol (ethyl alcohol), and other solvents — reportedly produces a hallucinogenic effect and causes a marijuana cigarette to burn more slowly, potentially resulting in a prolonged high, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The short-term effects of smoking marijuana treated with embalming fluid include anger, frustration, physical violence, paranoia, hallucinations and delusions, according to the DEA. Over the long term, the chemicals, which the DEA says are "highly carcinogenic," cause brain damage, coma, heart attack, lung damage and spinal cord destruction.
Wright was charged with: assault in the second degree, a felony; resisting arrest, a misdemeanor; harassment in the second degree, a violation; disorderly conduct, a violation; and appearance in public under the influence of a narcotic, a violation, police said.
Mitchell was charged with: resisting arrest, a misdemeanor; disorderly conduct, a violation; harassment in the second degree, a violation; and appearance in public under the influence of a narcotic, a violation, police said.
Both subjects were held at police headquarters for arraignment Sunday morning.