Man, 18, pronounced dead after heroin use

An 18-year-old man was pronounced dead early Thursday morning after police responded to a home to find that he had been using heroin.

Police stated in a press release Thursday that around 4:30 a.m. they responded to a home on the 2700 block of Park Street after being dispatched for a report of cardiac arrest. Once they arrived, police determined that the man had snorted heroin with a 17-year-old female juvenile occupant of the home while her mother was away.

Officers began first aid treatment with Naloxone and CPR until responders from Exeter Fire Department EMS could arrive. The man remained unresponsive and was rushed to Reading Hospital and Medical Center, police said. He was later pronounced dead upon reaching the hospital.

Police said the events oc- curred in the presence of a 3-year-old toddler who was sleeping a few feet away.

Police have declined to release the names of those involved until families have been notified.

Exeter Police are working with the Berks County District Attorney’s Office to determine what other factors may have contributed to the man’s death.

This death is the latest in a dramatic climb of heroin overdoses throughout Berks County, police said. According to a November 2015 Drug Enforcement Administration Intelligence Report, 62 drug-related overdose deaths were reported in Berks County in 2014 and heroin was the most common drug identified in toxicology tests.

Exeter Police and the Berks County District Attorney’s Office are urging anyone with a heroin addiction, or drug or alcohol problem, to contact the Berks County Drug and Alcohol Hotline at 484-6288186 to get help.

For more information, contact Sgt. David Behm at 610-779-1490.