UPDATED: Paris man almost dies after swallowing 80 Oxycodone pills during traffic stop

A Paris man allegedly swallowed 80-Oxycodone pills after Williamsburg police stopped the vehicle he was riding in about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday on I-75 near the 13-mile marker.

Williamsburg Public Affairs Officer Shawn Jackson said that he observed a Plymouth minivan near Pilot and after seeing it make various traffic violations he pulled over the vehicle shortly after it got onto I-75 at Exit 11.
When it stopped, all five occupants inside appeared to be under the influence, Jackson said.

"Their stories did not add up," he said. The driver told police that all five unrelated males had been on vacation to Cocoa Beach, Florida. Another man told police that the group had been to a family member’s funeral in Florida. All five gave different stories.

"After I placed two of them under arrest, we were continuing the investigation and I noticed one of them in the back of my car wasn’t breathing," Jackson said.

Police took James Willoughby out of the vehicle and called for Whitley County EMS, which treated him at the scene and transported him to Baptist Regional Medical Center in Corbin.

Jackson said that it turned out Willoughby was only breathing about four times a minute.

"They gave him Narcan basically to save his life," Jackson said. Narcan is a drug used to counter the effects of opioid overdose.

"He stated he had taken about 80 30-milligram Oxycodone pills to try and conceal them from us," Jackson said.
"It looks like the guy is going to be OK, but he is going to have to remain in the hospital for quite some time so I just cited him to court for public intoxication."

The pills taken were his own prescription from a pain clinic that the men had visited in Hollywood, Florida and were on their way back to Millersburg.

Jackson noted that the pills Willoughby had were in a proper container and hidden inside his pants. He wouldn’t have been charged for possessing the medication, Jackson said, adding that taking all the pills almost killed Willoughby.

Two of the five men filled prescriptions at the pain clinic and shared the medications with each other. A search of the vehicle revealed Oxycodone, Xanax and Alprazolam pills, many of which were found hidden inside a pillow, police said.
So far authorities haven’t determined a street value or exact count of the drugs.

Detective Bobby Freeman charged the driver, Adam L. Baker, 27, of Millersburg, with driving while under the influence, first-degree possession of a controlled substance, careless driving, no insurance and failure to wear a seatbelt.

Freeman charged the other three passengers James Petit, 37, John T. Manly, 26, and Jason Bennett, 29, all of Millersburg, with first-degree possession of a controlled substance and public intoxication and lodged them in the Whitley County Detention Center.

Petit was also charged with tampering with physical evidence.

Other charges are possible against Willoughby, Jackson said.

Freeman is continuing the investigation and was also assisted by Chief Wayne Bird, K-9 Officer Brandon Prewitt, Whitley County Sheriff’s Capt. Todd Shelley, Lt. Detective Chuck Davis and Deputy Farhad "Razor" Forohar.