Sunset Beach Police officers recover after secondary drug exposure

SUNSET BEACH, NC (WWAY) — Three Sunset Beach Police officers were treated for secondary exposure to drugs, after making an arrest on Sunday, August 28.

Sunset Beach Police responded to the 1600 of Seaside Road in Sunset Beach on Sunday, for reports of two people possibly under the influence of drugs. The two were arrested.

All of the officers were wearing latex gloves when they came in contact with the suspects, and the unknown substance.

One officer became sick at the scene and was taken to a hospital.

Officer Anthony Covelli says he got sick while he was transporting one of the suspects to the Brunswick County Detention Center.  A third officer took custody of the suspect from Covelli, and also became sick.

“I became really, really, ill. It felt like somebody turned the heat on,–on the car. I threw it in park when I got dizzy and I realized I couldn’t drive anymore and kicked the door open and got sick on the side of the road. Luckily there was some passerby’s that checked and saw if I was okay while I was crawling around and then, you know, I called for help and was transported away to the hospital,” said Anthony Covelli, Sunset Beach Police officer.

All three of the officers have recovered from the encounter.

Covelli says as law enforcement officers, they are well prepared for the job, but the incident was unique and concerning.

“I feel like we were prepared really well for this at the academy. I went to Southeastern, and when we’re going over the hazards that first responders can encounter, they did touch on this. I just, — no one can ever really explain to you what it’s going to feel like, until it actually happens to you. I mean, I knew a textbook case of it, but until it hit me in person, I had no idea what it was going to be like,” said Covelli.

Sunset Beach Police Chief Kenneth Klamar had a message to those in the community using the drugs.

“I wish they’d understand the potential side effects of other people coming into contact with that,—inadvertently, such as  what happened last weekend to our officers. If somebody would drop a substance, a bag a needle or something like that in a grocery store, and your children would pick those up, that’s a very dangerous situation, that I wish these folks would get some help and talk to some people and just don’t put the community at risk,” said Kenneth Klamar, Sunset Beach Police.

The incident is still under investigation. The unknown substance was sent to the SBI in Raleigh on Wednesday, August 31.