Drug Overdose Death Under Investigation in Waukesha

The is investigating a drug overdose death after a 30-year-old man died after apparently using a combination of heroin and Vicodin.

Shawn R. Ropel was pronounced deceased at Waukesha Memorial Hospital on Dec. 2 after being transported there by the on Nov. 29, according to Waukesha Police Lt. Kevin Kober.

“It is still an open investigation,” Kober said.

The police department investigators are waiting for the final toxicology reports before forwarding the case to the Waukesha County District Attorney’s office. It could take several months before those results are returned from the State Crime Lab. 

Police were dispatched to 2702 Summit Avenue at 2:34 a.m. Nov. 29 after it was reported that Ropel was not breathing after overdosing on drugs, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court.

Officers with the Waukesha Police Department found Ropel in the residence where he was lying between a mattress and a wall. A spoon and a syringe were nearby in a shoe and a police officer also located synthetic marijuana and a white tablet in the residence, the affidavit states.

The woman who called officers to the residence told an officer she picked up Ropel around 7:30 p.m. Nov. 28 to drive him to Milwaukee to purchase drugs from a dealer. They bought four $10 bags of heroin and they each injected a bag while in Milwaukee, according to the affidavit. They returned to Waukesha at 10:30 p.m. where Ropel injected one to two additional bags of heroin while also using Vicodin, the woman told officers.

Waukesha Patch is not identifying the woman because she has not been charged in the incident.

Meanwhile, Ropel was on bail for another apparent drug-related incident. According to a criminal complaint, police were dispatched to complaint that Ropel was driving recklessly at Kohl’s Department Store where he nearly hit a pedestrian at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 16.

Officers conducted a traffic stop at East Moreland Boulevard and Springdale Road where they found Ropel, who had his hands bloody. Ropel’s hands were in his pocket, so officers ordered him to keep his hands out of his pocket. He emerged holding a knife, which he immediately dropped, according to the complaint.

While Ropel blew a zero on his preliminary breath test, officers believed he was under the influence of drugs and sent his blood back to the State Crime Lab.

Ropel was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, his third drunken driving offense and operating while revoked in the Feb. 16 incident.