Man accused of overdosing faces drug charges

A 39-year-old man accused of overdosing on drugs at his Fredonia home the day after he drove his vehicle into a Grafton building was scheduled to answer to felony drug charges during an initial appearance in Ozaukee County Circuit Court this week.

Brandon M. Colella is charged with second or subsequent offenses of possession of cocaine and marijuana as well as third offense drunken driving.

According to a criminal complaint, an Ozaukee County sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to Colella’s home on North Milwaukee Street at 8:28 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, for a report of a drug overdose and spoke to the person who called 911.

That person said Colella was found unresponsive on his bed but regained consciousness after being given Narcan, adding that two items found near him on the bed were now in a garbage can.

Authorities retrieved a nicotine pouch container that held a white substance that tested positive for cocaine and a glass pipe with burnt residue on it, the complaint states.

Elsewhere in the house, authorities found a prescription bottle for gabapentin, a drug used to treat seizures and nerve pain, with someone else’s name on it, one gabapentin pill and a marijuana vaping device, according to the complaint.

Colella said the gabapentin bottle belonged to a relative. He said he has a prescription for the drug, but it ran out and he didn’t have insurance to refill the prescription, so the relative gave him the bottle.

He admitted using drugs in the past and said his drug of choice is cocaine, but he denied knowing what the white substance in the container was and said he did not remember using drugs, the complaint states.

A day earlier, at 8:31 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20, the Grafton Police Department received a report of a vehicle hitting a building at the corner of 12th Avenue and North Street.

By the time authorities arrived, the vehicle was gone, but an officer found parts from an older Hyundai at the scene and at 9:10 p.m. he found a Hyundai with front-end damage parked outside an apartment building.

The vehicle was registered to Colella, who was found in an apartment at the building.

Colella told an officer, who noted he was unsteady, slurring his words and smelled of alcohol, that he had been drinking at his home prior to driving and he thought he had hit a curb, according to the complaint.

Colella was sweating profusely and his pupils were constricted, leading the officer to suspect that he was also under the influence of drugs, the complaint states.

A test showed Colella had a blood alcohol level of .103, according to the complaint.

Colella pleaded not guilty to the drunken driving charge during a Dec. 5 court hearing.

He was scheduled to appear in court on the drug charges on Wednesday, Feb. 12. In addition to the two felonies, he is charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and possessing an illegally obtained prescription.