The Village of Montgomery Police Department is currently investigating two overdose deaths that took place within the past two years; these two cases are the latest of several overdoses that occurred since 2017.

There are seven known overdose deaths in the village; the police department is currently investigating two open cases that occurred at Charles Street on April 10, 2022, and April 22, 2024. The five other cases were turned over to the state police and include the following: two deaths occurred at Cardinal Drive on February 12, 2017, and January 20, 2018; one death occurred at Sycamore Drive on July 18, 2018; one death occurred at Waters Edge on March 5, 2019; and one death occurred at Taft Avenue on August 8, 2020. The police department has also reported several non-fatal overdoses in the village, many of which occurred at or near Charles Street.

David Hoovler, District Attorney of Orange County, said his office was collaborating with the village police on their investigation, but declined to elaborate. He noted that these cases could take anywhere between nine to 15 months before closing.

Don Berger, a village resident, raised his concerns about overdoses during the village board’s May 7 meeting.

“For the past few months, the chief of police has talked about Narcan recoveries, and I should be giving the police kudos for that. But the problem that we never discussed is the problem we have with drugs; if Narcan recovery is going on, that means we have a drug problem,” Berger said. “There have been a number of drug overdoses. What is the village doing about that? I don’t hear the board talking about it at all.”