Eastern Kentucky cop stops victim from overdosing, arrests accused dealer hours later

An Eastern Kentucky police officer has been applauded after allegedly saving an overdose victim’s life Tuesday and arresting the accused heroin distributor hours later.

Jacob Chaffins, a patrol officer with the Prestonsburg Police Department, responded Tuesday to a report that a woman had been dumped out of a car at a local Exxon Tiger Mart, police said.

Chaffins, who had a background as a firefighter and emergency medical technician, discovered the woman was overdosing and gave her NARCAN, a nasal spray that counters the effects of an opioid overdose. Chaffins was the first to respond to the scene with another officer he was training.

“Chaffins was alone for some time before an ambulance, responding from the North end of the county, arrived to assist,” police said in a social media post Wednesday. “(Chaffins) was assisted further by personnel from the Prestonsburg Fire Department. There is no dispute that (Chaffins’) early arrival and intervention coupled with his training saved this victim’s life.”

After the woman regained consciousness, investigators learned she and three men went to a local motel and bought fentanyl-laced heroin, according to police. The group started using the drugs in the Tiger Mart parking lot. The three men dumped her out of the car and left when she began overdosing, police said.

Police allegedly identified Phillip Burgin, a 41-year-old Hagerhill resident, as the distributor who sold the fentanyl-laced heroin. Investigators found out he was at a local motel and got a search warrant for his room, police said.

“In the room, officers recovered a quantity of heroin, methamphetamine, individual baggies for packaging of product, scales and three mobile telephones used to communicate with customers and distributors,” police said.

Burgin was allegedly trying to destroy evidence when investigators entered the room, police said.

Burgin was arrested around 1:45 a.m. on Wednesday, according to court records, which police said was about five hours after the initial overdose.

He was charged with drug trafficking, wanton endangerment, evidence tampering, possessing drug paraphernalia and being a persistent felony offender, according to court records. He was taken to the Floyd County Detention Center, police said.

The men who allegedly dumped the overdose victim in a parking lot had been identified by police. Police said they knew who the individuals were and were “seeking charges” on them as of Wednesday.