Suspect Who Denied Police Entry to Home Where Female Patient Overdosed Gets 10 Years in Prison

Adam Devine

BUFFALO, NY – When Buffalo police officers and firefighters arrived on the scene of a reported overdose incident in June of 2019, police said 29-year-old Keith Garcia locked the door and prevented first responders from getting inside.

Police eventually broke down the door and saved the female overdose patient, but not before Garcia put up a fight.

Now, Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announced that Garcia was sentenced to a determinate sentence of 10 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. He was sentenced as a second violent felony offender.

“On June 15, 2019, a woman overdosed inside of the defendant’s apartment on Chenango Street on the city’s West Side. A neighbor called 911,” District Attorney Flynn said in a statement. “The defendant refused to allow responding fire and emergency personnel to enter his apartment by locking the door. When police arrived and broke down the door to gain entry, the defendant fought with first responders. The female victim survived after Narcan was administered. Investigators found a quantity of fentanyl, drug paraphernalia and packing material in the apartment.”


Garcia was also charged with two parole violations in 2020.

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