A man has been arrested on multiple charges after being accused of entering a Portland, Maine, school bathroom and offering a student hypodermic needles.
Police were notified that a suspicious man, who has now been identified as Jacob Horwitch of Portland, Maine, allegedly entered the girls’ bathroom at King Middle School just before 9:00 a.m. on Monday.
After entering the girls’ bathroom of King Middle School, Horwitch, age 43, offered a female student hypodermic needles, police explained. It is not clear how the suspect first entered King Middle School, a local news outlet reported, though police are still investigating the incident.
Perpetrator Enters King Middle School – https://t.co/doXc4YP38Q pic.twitter.com/mGgyN6nLcv
— Portland (ME) Police (@PolicePortland) May 16, 2023
Although Horwitch had left the middle school before the police arrived, he was found and arrested at the entrance of Deering Oaks Park, about a quarter mile away from the middle school, according to police.
Horwitch was “arrested and charged with Criminal Trespass, Violation of Privacy and Refusing to Submit to Arrest or Detention, Physical Force” according to a press release from the City of Portland. After being arrested, Horwitch was then taken to Cumberland County Jail.
Portland police reported that there had been a spike in drug overdoses just months earlier, with three lethal overdoses happening within just five days. Six non-lethal overdoses occurred within the same period of time. The town of 68,000 experienced 96 overdoses and eleven related deaths from the beginning of 2023 up until the first week of March.
Police in Portland, Maine, made a fentanyl bust in April, seizing 137 grams of the deadly drug. Officials added that the amount of fentanyl they seized was enough to kill the entire population of the city.