BITHLO, Fla. – The Orange County Sheriff's Office is investigating Tuesday after a woman said a driver left a car running in her driveway with two women who had overdosed inside.
Edna Heaton called 911 around 1:50 p.m. Monday after she said the two women inside the car were barely breathing.
"I don't know; a car just pulled into our driveway and the guy got out and left," Eaton told dispatchers on the 911 call. "The girl just, she's not talking or nothing, she's just like dead."
Heaton told News 6 she didn't think either woman would make it.
"The one in the backseat, I didn't even know she was there until I looked back there and her eyes was wide open, so I thought she was already dead," Heaton said Tuesday. "It scared me, it really scared me and I told [dispatchers], 'You got to get here as soon as you can.'"
Orange County Fire Rescue said they were called out to the 700 block of Carpenter Road and found a woman in the front passenger seat. The other woman was in the back seat, unconscious.
"Neither of them were alert, they were not talking," said OCFR spokesperson Mike Jachles. "There were multiple doses of the naloxone, or Narcan. Whatever they had come in contact with or ingested was not responding."
Fire rescue says both women are now in critical condition at AdventHealth East.
Orange County sheriff's deputies says this is why they want people to stay at the scene of potential overdose cases.
"Give us a chance to help this person out," said Deputy Christian Marrero. "You can help us with the fire department to get this person help. We would like to know what that person took. Obviously, different drugs cause different reactions, so we want to know what was taken, so we can best help this person out."
Deputies cite the Florida Good Samaritan Act, passed in 2012.
"If you are with somebody or you believe that someone is experiencing alcohol-related or drug related overdoses, you can't be arrested, you can't be charged, and you can't be prosecuted for the possession of the illegal narcotics."
The law protects those who stay to help. Deputies warn that if people don't stay, it could lead to criminal action.
"One way or another we can find evidence you were in the car and you did not seek medical help, that is something we are going to look into and possibly prosecute criminally," Marrero added.
Marrero said deputies are investigating, and want to talk to the driver who Heaton reported took off.
According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, there have been 131 suspected overdose deaths in the county so far in 2019. Compare with 150 at this time last year, it's a 15% decrease in deaths.
For more information or resources for drug abuse, click here.