Police: Man in crash had ‘gray death’ drug mix

Kenneth Patterson (Credit: Carroll County Sheriff's Office)

Kenneth Patterson (Credit: Carroll County Sheriff's Office)

A Texas man was jailed in Carroll County after he was found unconscious after a crash with a drug mixture known as “gray death” in his car, police said.

About 3:56 p.m. Wednesday, a Villa Rica officer responded after a car hit a parked vehicle at a McDonald’s restaurant on Ga. 61, police spokesman Keith Shaddix said in a statement. The officer saw a plastic bag that contained a gray powder on the driver’s floorboard, according to Shaddix.

“The material in the bag was consistent with how heroin is packaged and sold,” Shaddix said.

Carroll County fire crews were called to the scene, and the driver, identified as 47-year-old Kenneth Patterson of Katy, Texas, was given Narcan to counteract the drug, Shaddix said. Patterson was taken to a hospital emergency room for treatment.

The substance in the bag was believed to be “gray death,” a mixture of heroin and fentanyl that has been responsible for deaths in metro Atlanta and elsewhere.

Patterson was charged with DUI and possession of a controlled substance, and booked into the Carroll County jail, according to Shaddix.

“It is only due to Officer (Chris) Rowen’s observation in locating the substance and the quick action of the Carroll County Fire Department that another death was avoided due to this drug,” Shaddix said.

In other news: