ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Timeshare mogul David Siegel donated the necessary funds to the Belle Isle Police Department so it could buy Narcan.
Narcan is used to help revive people having a drug overdose.
Channel 9's Shannon Butler learned the city of Belle Isle has had a growing heroin problem. The city is surrounded by some of the areas known for the drug, like Semoran Boulevard and McCoy Road, police said.
“That had drugs and bad guys traveling that way. They come through those areas and that is sometimes where we encounter it,” Lt. Travis Grimm, with the Belle Isle Police Department, said.
Read: Pill mill problem gives way to spike in heroin deaths in Central Florida
Officers last week busted a person with nearly 90 bags of heroin and cocaine in his car, police said.
The need for Narcan became a reality about a month and a half ago when a person overdosed at a Wendy’s and a second one overdosed on heroin in the same week.
Read: Orlando police officers to carry life-saving overdose drug
The department had a problem with funding the anti-overdose drug because Narcan nasal spray costs $75 a box, police said.
“For us to budget, this would be a huge expense,” Grimm said.
The Belle Isle police chief asked Siegel if he could pay for the entire supply of Narcan and he agreed.
Siegel's daughter, Victoria, died of an overdose in 2015. He has been pushing for education and awareness at the local and national levels.
He told Eyewitness News that he wants to save lives and was happy to donate the money.
Officers will begin training in the next few days and will soon carry Narcan with them everywhere they go.
In the long term, police said they’ll look for grants to keep the supply going.
Cox Media Group
