A Florida man high on new drug called ‘flakka’ had to be rescued by firefighters after his failed attempt to climb a police department’s security gate left him hanging for 20 minutes with a spike skewered through his midsection.
The incident began at about 8:20 p.m. Sunday when Shanard Neely tried to scale the 10-foot electronic gate around the Fort Lauderdale Police Department parking lot. According to the Sun Sentinel, once the man mounted the gate, he fell on one of the iron spikes, which pierced his crotch and came out through his buttocks.
Firefighters in the area heard his screams and went to Neely’s aid.
“He was hanging there with his legs on one side and the rest of his body on the other,” Fort Lauderdale Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Heiser said.
“So many things could have gone wrong,” Heiser added. “It was really good teamwork. They got him off the fence fast.”
Neely informed officers he was high on a new drug called Flakka that is laced with heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and pyrrolidinovalerophenone. Drug experts say Flakka induces paranoia, psychosis and extreme combativeness.
Police officers and firefighters worked together to rescue the man, who was conscious throughout the whole ordeal. One officer handcuffed the gate to stop it from accidentally opening and firefighters worked to keep the metal cool using ice packs and wet towels so he would not get burned when the circular saw heated the spike.
“They had to build two tables — one on each side — so he didn’t fall,” Heiser said. “Basically his midsection was a fulcrum and any weight change on either side had to have been excruciating.”
Once cut free, he was placed on a stretcher and rushed to Broward Health Medical Center for treatment, with the spike still stuck in his body.
“It was a very delicate ride to the hospital,” Heiser said. “You think it’s bad enough to have a fence impaled in you, but then if you don’t have people skilled enough and trained to treat you properly, you’re one sneeze away from possibly bleeding to death or having permanent damage.”
