A Beaverton man faces criminal charges in Marion County after police arrested him this week with 21 grams of suspected fentanyl.
Daniel R. Northcutt, 33, was arrested in Salem on Tuesday at about 1:10 a.m. and currently faces two felony charges of conspiracy to commit a felony and fleeing a peace officer.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Salem Police Department stopped a white Volvo Sedan that was eluding them at the intersection of Northeast Center Street and Northeast Hawthorne Street. Northcutt was a passenger.
After giving law enforcement officers two fake names, Northcutt then identified himself and officers found there was an active warrant for his arrest. Upon his arrest, officers found in his satchel a firearm that had been reported stolen, “21 grams of suspected fentanyl, four small clear plastic bags, 1.5 pills of suspected Xanax, foil, a firearm cleaning device, and $946.93,” according to the affidavit.
“The money consisted of small denominations consistent with the delivery of controlled substances,” it stated.
Fentanyl is an opioid, approved in clinical settings for treating severe pain, such as advanced cancer pain, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a controlled substance and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. A dose of 0.1 milligrams is approximately equivalent to 10 milligrams of morphine, according to the FDA. It is often abused and has been the cause of significant drug overdoses in the U.S. in recent years.
Northcutt was taken to Salem Hospital because he claimed to have consumed fentanyl, but while doctors provided him with his release documents, Northcutt attempted to escape by pushing past the officer and “striking an elderly patient in the process,” according to the affidavit. He continued to resist arrest and try to escape in the hospital.
Northcutt is scheduled to be arraigned in Marion County court on Wednesday. He also has prior convictions for felony theft in 2018.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the arresting agency. Salem Reporter apologizes for the error.
Contact Reporter Jordyn Brown at [email protected]
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Jordyn Brown is an Oregon journalist who formerly worked for the Eugene Register-Guard.
