Nature of Incident: Non-Fatal Overdose Leads to an Arrest
Report Number: 19-188190
Location: Thousand Oaks
Date & Time: December 2019
Unit(s) Responsible: Ventura County Interagency Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit (PCU)
Thousand Oaks Patrol
(S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent City of Residence
(S) Andrew Cooper
Westlake Village
Narrative:
On December 4, 2019, patrol deputies were dispatched to a non-fatal overdose of psilocybin mushrooms in the City of Thousand Oaks. Once the initial investigation was conducted, the patrol deputy contacted detectives from the Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit (PCU) for assistance. Detectives gathered evidence and identified (S) Andrew Cooper as the supplier of the illegal mushrooms to the victim.
On December 31, 2019, an arrest warrant for 11379(a) HS – furnishing a controlled substance was obtained from the Ventura County Superior Court. On January 2nd, 2020 Cooper was located and arrested in Thousand Oaks by PCU detectives. Cooper was interviewed and then booked into custody at the East Valley Jail in Thousand Oaks. Cooper quickly bailed out of custody and an arraignment court date of January 15, 2020 was set.
Illegal mushrooms are a naturally occurring substance that contains psilocybin which is a psychoactive and hallucinogenic compound. This substance can be extremely dangerous leading to overdose, extreme hallucinations, or even death.
The public may contact investigators from the Ventura County Interagency Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit at (805) 383-8700 or [email protected] with additional information about this case, or any other information related to narcotics.
The Ventura County Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit is a task force made up of members from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, Thousand Oaks Police Department, the Ventura Police Department; The primary mission of the task force is combatting the transfer of legal prescription medication to the illegal market. In addition, the task force works to identify and stop new trends of abuse among the younger population and investigates overdoses due to both prescription medication and illicit drug use.
Prepared by: Sergeant Matthew Young
News Release Date: January 10, 2020
Media Follow-Up Contact: Detective Stephen Egnatchik
(805) 384-4752
[email protected]
Approved by: Captain Brian Slominski
####
