Action News Jax Investigates: Lake City police on front lines against Flakka

LAKE CITY, Fla. — For nearly four months, anchor Tenikka Hughes looked into the fight against Flakka in Lake City. In an Action News Jax exclusive, police took her to the front lines to see this drug’s powerful grip and what they need to stop the flow of Flakka into their community.

Hughes and her photographer, Joel Lotz, went on a ride-along with Lake City Police Department Drug Unit Officer Mike Del Castillo.  At one point during the night, Del Castillo assisted on a traffic stop that turned up heroin.

But heroin is not the biggest problem in Lake City. Flakka is.

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Minutes earlier, Del Castillo responded to a call about a man who was high on Flakka. Del Castillo told our crew that officers had responded to that same address before for the same problem.

Several officers were there when we arrived. Our crew was asked to stay back, but we could see and hear the man talk openly about his drug use. Here’s the exchange:

Officer: How long have you been smoking Flakka?
Flakka user: Less than a year.
Officer: Have you done any drugs before Flakka?
Flakka user: Yes sir.
Officer: What did you do before Flakka?
Flakka user: Crack.
Officer: Are you hot right now? Because it's cool outside but you're pouring sweat up top.
Flakka user: Yes sir. I'll come down. I just need some ice water.

The officers called paramedics to the scene to examine the man.

Flakka can cause a person's body temperature to spike to more than 104 degrees, which can cause organ damage or failure. Flakka can also cause paranoia, hallucinations, violent outbursts, excited delirium and even death.

Officer Del Castillo explained why he asked our crew to stay back. He said, "They can be calm one second and the next second they can totally change. They can become violent, and that's why I kept you guys back here, just for your own safety."

Del Castillo said in 2013, he responded to a call and found a woman standing in traffic choking her three small children.

"She was looking at me -- wide eyed foaming at the mouth. Didn't say anything to me," Del Castillo said.

The woman's response to the officer was violent and disturbing.

"I tried to grab her in a headlock, at which point she grabbed me under my arm with her teeth. She bit me. She ripped my uniform shirt off and actually took a chunk of skin out," Del Castillo said.

"She had superhuman strength. I tried everything I could to get those children out of her grip. Nothing I did worked," Del Castillo said.

Seemingly superhuman strength is another reported side effect of Flakka. Del Castillo said it took multiple officers and Tasers to break the woman's grip and get the children to safety.

"It's just horrible. It tears people apart. It tears families apart," Del Castillo said.

Sgt. Robert Milligan said the unpredictable side effects of Flakka have changed the way officers approach and investigate scenes.

"It's not so much about we're taking them to jail. It's about getting EMS there for these side effects and what this stuff does to the body," Milligan said. "One dose, even a one-tenth of a gram, what they call a bump bag, can kill someone."

Lake City Police Chief Argatha Gilmore said keeping her officers trained and being transparent with the community is critical.

Gilmore said neighbors are reaching out to police for help.

"They call us. They now know that Flakka is out there," Gilmore said.

Gilmore said many of the resources her department uses to fight illegal drug activity come through its involvement in the North Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which is a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in 10 local counties.

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"We've got to work together. That's the only way to ensure our community is safe," Gilmore said.

Local communities are banding together to wage a war on an unrelenting drug that holds lives in its grip. In the exchange between the Flakka user and LCPD officer, the man talks about his desire to get clean.

Flakka user: I gotta stop. I really do.
Officer: Well, I wish you would partner. You'd probably feel a lot better.
Flakka User: I do. More peace of mind. I do. I gotta stop.

Complicating things even more, Flakka can be camouflaged to look like meth or crack cocaine. Milligan said nearly half of the drug users they encounter don't even realize they are hooked on Flakka.

Cox Media Group