Sheriff Calls For Body Scanner After 2 Inmates Overdose On Fentanyl In Wagoner County Jail

Two inmates in the Wagoner County jail nearly died this week after another inmate smuggled fentanyl into the jail. Deputies believe Dawaune Allen hid the drugs in a body cavity before he was booked.

Jailers noticed two inmates were unresponsive during routine hourly checks on Monday.

"They went into one cell, and they found an individual unresponsive in his bunk and they started working him, and they figured out that this is probably some type of an opioid overdose, so they start applying Narcan and working that problem, said Wagoner County Sheriff Chris Elliott. "At the same time, other detention officers were checking well in the cell right next to him. We found another inmate face down in the floor, not breathing."

Those inmates were given Narcan, CPR and then taken to the hospital where they have since recovered.

"I can't say enough about my detention officers and my jail staff. We've got good policies down there. We've got great medical down there. They responded to everything they were supposed to do, and they save two lives down in our jail," said Elliott.

Sheriff Elliott is now working with County Commissioners to get a body scanner for the jail that he says would help prevent inmates from smuggling dangerous things into the jail.

"Not only will it pick up sequestered firearms and knives and things like that, that might be up in a body cavity somewhere, which is where the narcotics get it into the jail, they bring it into a body cavity," said Elliott.

The Sheriff says they are continuing to monitor inmates closely to make sure no one else got their hands on the fentanyl.

"We've had so much of this fentanyl coming into the country. We're saturated with it," said Eliott.

Dawaune Allen will face charges for bringing the drugs in and distributing them. Allen was in jail on charges for possession of a controlled substance, possessing of stolen property and burglary.