A man found unconscious at the Wyndham Hotel in Chelsea will be arraigned as soon as he recovers from the heroin overdose he got when some of the balloons burst, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.
Doctors recovered some of the balloons from the stomach of Luis Sanabria-Morales, 40, but he may still have more plastic-coated heroin inside, the DA's office says. Spokesman Jake Wark says authorities are willing to let nature take its course:
In some cases, such as those in which a person is observed swallowing the drugs or it's very early on in the ingestion, police may get a warrant to have the person's stomach pumped. In a situation like this one, where that opportunity has gone, we usually wait. Doctors take X-rays to track the course of the items and monitor their health throughout. They may take other actions -- potentially including an operation, I guess -- depending on medical necessity and the best interests of the patient/suspect, but that's a medical decision and not a law enforcement one. We're content to wait until the stuff becomes "abandoned property."
Innocent, etc.