City man arrested for drug offenses | News, Sports, Jobs

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A city man is facing drug charges for allegedly selling heroin to a person who subsequently overdosed.

Eugene Irwin Ehredt, 32, was arraigned Monday by District Judge Benjamin F. Jones on four counts of felony possession with intent to distribute, one felony criminal use of a communication facility, one misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia and four misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance.

Unable to post $75,000 bail, Ehredt was transported to the Blair County Jail and is scheduled to appear before Jones for a preliminary hearing on July 24.

According to court documents, Altoona police received a call about an overdose from the 3200 block of Lynnwood Drive around 8:35 a.m. Monday and found heroin bags with the word “Walking Dead” printed on them at the scene. Officers administered naloxone to the victim, saving his life, the report states. Police took the victim’s phone number and learned from him that he had purchased the heroin from Ehredt.

Officers went to the 5400 block of Sixth Avenue to speak with Ehredt around 2 p.m. Monday. Ehredt allowed officers to go into the kitchen of his apartment, where they found a blue wax packet on the floor by the door and powder residue next to a cut piece of aluminum foil. After going around the apartment, officers found more pieces of foil, according to the probable cause affidavit.

When Ehredt and the officers went outside so Ehredt could smoke, officers asked him if he had sold or traded drugs recently. After some back and forth, Ehredt showed them a text message conversation he had with another person whose phone number matched the victim’s, court documents say.

In the text message conversation, the victim said he was sick and asked Ehredt for drugs around 2:30 a.m. Monday, to which Ehredt responded that he wanted $120. The conversation includes information that the victim confirmed he would pick up the drugs, police reported.

During the investigation, Ehredt told police that there was more heroin in a belt bag near his couch in the apartment.

The police then issued and received a search warrant for Ehredt’s apartment, the report said.

Inside the fanny pack, officers found Ehredt’s wallet, which contained $475, his ID and other identification. Also found inside the fanny pack were approximately 199 stamped wax packets containing suspected heroin/fentanyl, one gram of loose suspected fentanyl, six grams of suspected cocaine and approximately 0.5 grams of suspected methamphetamine, court documents state.

Altoona police said on the department’s Facebook page that the heroin packages were valued at $2,970, while the cocaine was valued at $900 and the fentanyl was valued at $500.