CARRBORO, N.C. -- On July 31, 2022, the Carrboro Police Department responded to a residence on Lindsay St for a cardiac arrest. Upon arrival, officers discovered the victim, Bradley Zimmerman, deceased. An autopsy determined that Zimmerman died of a drug overdose. As a result of the investigation into this incident, John Robert Small, W/M, 31, of Carrboro was charged with Death by Distribution. Additional charges at the time of his arrest, include Felony Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance, Maintaining a vehicle, and paraphernalia possession. Small was arrested yesterday and confined in the Orange County Jail under a combined $210,000 bond.
Small is charged under the Death by Distribution statute (link below) as investigation revealed he sold a qualifying controlled substance to Zimmerman and that substance was the proximate cause of Zimmerman’s death.
If you suspect someone is in an overdose state, call 911 immediately. North Carolina’s Good Samaritan Law (link below) provides protections to someone in an overdose state and the 911 caller if certain conditions are met. The Carrboro Police Department has carried naloxone, an opioid antagonist, since 2014 and had the first two law enforcement reversals of an opioid overdose in the state in 2015. The police department is committed to providing life-saving care in these situations. A link to behavioral health resources for people living with substance use and other challenges is listed below.
Media Point of Contact: Chief C. Atack, 919-918-7407
John Robert Small
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