Drug Overdosed Panhandler Found In Car Full Of Heroin

A Washington state panhandler died from an apparent overdose in a car containing $83,000 worth of heroin. The body of Douglas Budd, 56, was found on New Year’s Day in his car with a hypodermic needle still in his arm, pointing to a probable drug overdose. Not a good way to ring in the new year.

The shot was apparently so potent, Budd apparently spilled his strawberry shake all over himself, says the Seattle Times. Budd had been found in his car in the Taco Bell parking lot on East Yakima Avenue with half a pound of heroin and $1,725 in cash on him.

Capt. Rod Light of the Yakima Police Department, said Budd had been dealing heroin and panhandling at one of the city’s busiest intersections. According to court records, he had a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for shoplifting, drug possession and theft of a firearm, says FOX News.

Light stated:

“He used to work the southwest corner of First (Street) and Nob Hill Boulevard. He was one of our regulars.”

Light said he has noticed that while some panhandlers may be genuinely down on their luck or homeless, the ones who hold signs all day at busy intersections are usually not. They may actually be better off than a lot of us with regular jobs. Some of them are violent offenders, and they give the impression that they probably head to the bridge at night and sleep in the dirt, but they don’t, reports the Yakima Herald Republic. You can often tell by the state of their clothes whether or not they’re legitimate.

Light said

“There’s a bad faction out there. A lot of them work together.”

Budd had already been under investigation when he was discovered.