Officials say that an ongoing investigation shows that a Kirkersville, Ohio police who died of an accidental fentanyl overdose took the drugs from the department's evidence room.
Police Chief James Hughes Jr., 35, was found unresponsive in the bathroom of his Reynoldsburg home on May 25 and was pronounced dead a short time later, according to The Newark Advocate.
Reynoldsburg Police Lt. Ron Wright said the department is still investigating, but evidence shows the drugs were possibly evidence in other cases taken from the evidence room.
"There was packaging that indicated that he was taking controlled substances from there," he told the newspaper.
An autopsy conducted by the Franklin County Coroner's Office indicated Hughes died of an "acute intoxication by fentanyl." Records from the coroner's office indicate two syringes were recovered and tested for the presence of substances which may have contributed to Hughes' death.
One syringe had no drugs in it, while the other was positive for fentanyl. A plastic sandwich bag found at the scene also tested positive for cocaine and a third syringe containing a liquid was determined to be positive for fentanyl.
Hughes was named police chief on March 13 and his hiring came less than a week after the prior chief, Jeff Finley, had unexpectedly resigned.
Prior to his death, the village had been planned to increase Hughes' weekly schedule from 20 hours to 32 hours for the chief who was making $14 an hour.
The village has not yet named a replacement for Hughes.
