Local

Man speaks about powerful joint laced with bath salts

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The Alpharetta man who threatened to eat police officers during a wild arrest told Channel 2 Action News he had no idea the joint he bought could be laced with bath salts.

Karl Laventure told Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh he bought a joint off the street for his 21st birthday. He believes, as officers do, that it was laced because of how he reacted to it.

"I started feeling guilty after I smoked. I was feeling like I was going to be punished," said Laventure. "Then I felt my heart rate start picking up like you got to move, you got to leave, you got to run, run!"

On June 14, Laventure ran to the Atlanta Golf Center on Beaver Ruin Road in Lilburn.

He said he remembers grabbing a club and hitting some balls. But a message of fear and punishment kept racing through his mind. He took off across the range, through a pond and into the woods. When police had arrived, he said he ran to them for protection.

"I just got pepper-sprayed, I was like what the heck, they trying to attack me too? I'm not crazy, these guys are really trying to attack me," he said.

Police said throughout the entire ordeal, they Tased Laventure 14 times. But it had little effect on him.

"In my mind I was thinking like 'save me' I really don't know what I said. I was in that moment of panic," Laventure said. "I commend them for what they did really. They save my life. Nothing happened. It could have easily ended it."

Gwinnett County Police said their officers are dealing with the effects of synthetic drugs more and more often. They are developing specialized training for officers and narcotics detectives.

"It's a significant problem and a growing problem," said Cpl. Jake Smith with the Gwinnett County Police Department.

Smith said the state has granted law enforcement the right to seize questionable synthetic substances.
So officers are now training on how to spot them.

"With the changing packaging and the way it's being marketed and sold on shelves, it's still very hard to know what we're looking at," he said.

They are also developing training for officers who encounter someone who could be high.

Laventure is awaiting the result of blood tests to determine exactly what was in his system that night.