New details have been released on a drug bust May 23rd at the Days Inn along Route 22 in Burrell Township, with state police now identifying a second suspect.
As we first reported two days after the May 23rd incident, police had tracked 21-year-old Dylan Christopher Blair of Derry to the hotel, and as they were serving the arrest warrant on him, they found another man in the midst of an overdose in the bathroom. The deputies were in the process of moving the overdose victim to administer Narcan when he revived and became combative with them. Police now say 41-year-old Edward Russian of Saltsburg was in the room, but they don’t specifically say he was the overdose victim. They do say that both Blair and Russian were in possession of – in their words – “copious amounts of illicit drugs…including heroin and cocaine”.
The original warrant on Blair was for selling heroin to 38-year-old Michelle Spillar of Derry, who died from an overdose on the day after Christmas. He’s charged with drug delivery resulting in death and three counts of manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to deliver. He is also facing court action in Allegheny County for possession and driving under the influence in Monroeville in April.
Online court records indicate that new charges have yet to be filed against Blair and Russian.
