Man who fatally overdosed in Norwich police custody may have hidden fentanyl in hidden pocket – Hartford Courant

An investigation has found that a man who died in Norwich police custody last year died of a fentanyl overdose and may have sneaked the drugs into his cell in secret pockets that were found sewn into his clothing, the document says.

Brenton Chambers, 42, died in a holding cell at Norwich Police Department headquarters on Feb. 4, 2022, just hours after he was arrested on drug and gun possession charges, records show. The Office of the Inspector General released a report this week that said Chambers’ death was not the result of any use of force or criminal action by law enforcement officers.

On the night Chambers died, officers on the night shift observed Chambers “acting funny” about 3:45 a.m., according to the report, and then realized he appeared to be having a seizure. Officers rushed into the cell where he was being held and found Chambers unresponsive, the report said.

Officers began performing CPR as they waited four minutes for an ambulance to arrive, the report said. He was rushed to Backus Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:33 a.m., the report said.

An autopsy found Chambers died from active fentanyl intoxication with recent cocaine use and his death was ruled an accident, according to the state medical examiner and the OIG’s report.

After Chambers’ death, investigators seized Chamber’s clothing — a T-shirt and a sweat suit. In his clothes, they found hidden pockets where investigators say he could have hidden fentanyl, the report said.

“They have hidden pockets sewn into inconspicuous areas along the hems and other locations,” the inspector general’s report said. “Such pockets are suitable for concealing contraband such as drugs.”

Chambers, who had a history of heroin addiction, had been searched for any contraband when he arrived at the Police Department. A video of him being searched was released as a part of the inspector general’s 17 page report released Wednesday.

Chambers had been arrested on Feb. 3, after the Norwich Office of Adult probation searched his home, vehicle and business. Chambers had previously been convicted in 2019 of driving a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended after 30 days, and two years of probation, the report said.

During the February searches, a probation officer found a safe disguised as a dictionary in Chambers’ Chevrolet Silverado. Inside the safe was about three grams of fentanyl, officials said.

Inside Chambers’ home on Norwich Avenue, officers found a 9mm handgun and two plastic bags with about 14 grams of suspected fentanyl, the report said. At Chambers’ business, Juiceman’s Cloud City vape shop on Jewett City Road in Taftville, officers found 15 suspected fentanyl pills, the report said.

Following the searches, Chambers was arrested and charged with possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, criminal possession of a firearm. He was held on a $150,000 bond, which he could not post, officials said.

Chambers was taken to Norwich police headquarters for holding without incident, officials said. He was briefly taken to Backus Hospital to have one leg put in a boot due to a swollen ankle that he claimed stemmed from an injury he sustained while in police custody, the report said.

On the night of Feb. 3 and the morning of Feb. 4, two officers on the overnight shift watched Chambers in his cell via a camera feed from his cell to the dispatch area. The camera footage did not show Chambers ingesting any drugs, the report said, but investigators believe he may have removed fentanyl from a hidden pocket.

At 3:11 a.m., video footage shows Chambers reaching into the front pocket of his sweatshirt. At other points before 3:37 a.m., Chambers turns his back to the camera, the report said.

Shortly after that time, Chambers began to have a seizure and was then unresponsive, the report said.

“He could have put something into his mouth at these times,” the report said. “The powerful and overwhelming physical reaction he experienced (and that the camera records) is strong evidence of his reaction to a fentanyl overdose.”

The inspector general found that this evidence, and the determined cause of death, supported the conclusion that “Chambers was able to ingest fentanyl while in cell #5 shortly before his death.”

The OIG ruled that Chambers’ death was not due to any officers’ use of force or any criminal action by any officer, and no further action would be taken.