Knowing it could kill, woman still provided heroin, warrants say

 

The heroin had already killed one man and caused her to overdose, but an Oak Ridge woman still provided the illegal drug to a second man, who ended up unconscious on a hallway floor with a very weak pulse and unable to breathe on his own on Thursday, authorities said.

Heather Marie Rau, 29, told Oak Ridge Police Department Detective John R. Criswell that she warned Wesley “Bud” Arnold not to “shoot it,” or inject the heroin, because she knew what she had given him could possibly kill him, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

It’s not clear how Arnold ingested the heroin, but he was unconscious on a hallway floor with a very weak pulse and unable to breathe on his own when Criswell responded to an overdose call at 622 West Outer Drive at about 3 p.m. Thursday.

“EMS personnel were able to revive Arnold by giving him a dose of Narcan, which is used to assist persons who overdose on opioid-based narcotics,” Criswell said in the warrants.

Rau and Willie Williams had ingested the same heroin at 622 West Outer Drive on February 12, and she overdosed while Williams died, the warrants said.

“Rau provided the same heroin to Arnold, which caused his overdose, and admitted to knowing that it could possibly kill him,” Criswell wrote in the warrants. Two witnesses confirmed Rau’s statement, Criswell said.

Rau admitted, after being advised of her Miranda rights, that she contacted Arnold and arranged to meet him at 622 West Outer Drive to exchange crystal methamphetamine and a cell phone for the heroin that she had, Criswell said.

“‘Bud’ asked to come over to the house after I told him I had some heroin for sale,” Rau said in a written statement, according to Criswell.

Rau explained that her deal with Arnold was to trade heroin for “ice” and a used phone that Arnold would bring back later, Criswell said.

After he overdosed and was treated with Narcan, Arnold was taken to an emergency room, where he was treated for the overdose and released, the warrants said.

While officers waited for a search warrant, Rau asked to use the restroom, Criswell said. But police were afraid she might try to dispose of evidence. Asked if she possessed any illegal items, Rau admitted to having more narcotics in her pocket, Criswell said.

Among the items she removed, according to the warrants, were a piece of plastic containing what Criswell recognized as marijuana, a small sealed baggie with a crystal substance of suspected methamphetamine inside, and three small silver-colored bundles with an unknown substance inside.

A small digital scale was found during a search of the residence, Criswell said.

Rau has been charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and possession of a controlled substance for sale. Her bond has been set at $50,000. She remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Friday evening.

Rau also has a pending probation violation charge for domestic assault, assault, and aggravated assault charges after a January 16 incident on Solway Road in Knox County, according to Anderson County court records. After an altercation with her father, Rau allegedly spit on two Knox County officers, tried to kick one of them, and bit another on the arm, the records said.

Rau has a court date scheduled for 1 p.m. February 21.

More information will be added as it becomes available.