Two apparent heroin overdose deaths in Petaluma in 24 hours

Two Petaluma men, 19 and 67, died in a 24-hour period during a pair of apparent heroin overdoses, police said.

The 67-year-old died at 5 a.m. Monday at a Magnolia Avenue apartment, Petaluma Lt. Tim Lyons said. Officers found the man unconscious at the west Petaluma residence. A person with the victim had given him an opioid antidote and officers administered a second dose, but the man couldn’t be revived, Lyons said. The drug, naloxone, often works to revive someone who has overdosed on heroin.

On Sunday, police were called to an east Petaluma apartment about 11 a.m. regarding a possible drug overdose. After kicking open a locked bedroom door, they discovered the body of the 19-year-old. A brown, tar-like substance was found on a burnt spoon alongside a hypodermic needle - indications of heroin use, Lyons said.

Drug overdose deaths have been occurring sporadically in the city, Lyons said.

Last April, a 16-year-old Petaluma boy died from an overdose while at home with his mother. She received a 19-year prison sentence for abandoning her son in a medical emergency.