Nelson Casanova-Candelaria
A Lower Township man accused of bringing drugs to a patient at Cooper University Hospital in Middle Township was ordered held in jail Wednesday.
Nelson Casanova-Candelaria, 42, of the Villas, ran from the unnamed woman's room about five to 10 minutes after he went inside, telling staff that she was having a medical emergency, according to the affidavit of probable cause obtained by BreakingAC.
The victim was found in the bathroom of her room, sitting on the toilet, leaned over with her eyes closed and a syringe inside her IV that was three-quarters empty, the first person to respond told police.
She was administered Narcan intravenously for the overdose, and still did not immediately regain consciousness Cape May County Assistant Prosecutor Kira Kelly told the judge.
"Had she been anywhere other than the hospital when this defendant distributed the CDS to her, we could have a markedly different outcome here," Kelly said.
But public defender Kate Weigel said that Casanova-Candelaria's actions were not that of a person who had caused the overdose, but instead "somebody who was trying to seek help and fix what was a very real medical emergency."
"I’d like to note again that this victim did not have any CDS in her possession when she arrived in this hospital," Kelly told the judge. "Five to 10 minutes after this defendant came to her room to visit her, she suffers an overdose."
One witness told police that she saw Casanova-Candelaria run to the lobby looking nervous, and then enter a room he had no association with, go into the bathroom and flush a clear plastic bag similar to the one found floating in the victim's toilet next to an empty blue waxfold, the affidavit states.
The plastic bag Casanova-Candelaria allegedly flushed could not be recovered.
Another witness said she heard him talking on his cell phone in Spanish, and understood him to say that he was "probably going to jail for what I just did."
Casanova-Candelaria, who listened to the proceedings through a Spanish interpreter, shook his head throughout the hearing, and wiped his eyes with his orange jail shirt several times.
He has a pending case from March 18, that includes charges of receiving stolen property and possessing a false government-issued identification.
A week before that incident, he was sentenced to five years of probation in Massachusetts, according to information presented during his detention hearing. The court did not have details on the out-of-state case.
The public safety assessment used to help determine whether a defendant should be held pending trial under bail reform recommended Casanova-Candelaria be released.
The judge disagreed.
"The circumstances are extraordinarily offensive," Miller said. "The patient is in there to improve their health, not destroy their health. If she had issues with addiction, the hospital can deal with that. (The defendant) nonetheless brought CDS into the hospital."
The judge noted that the victim almost died and likely would have if medical staff had not acted quickly.
"Going to a hospital to administer CDS to potentially a friend is a brazen act, a cowardly act and a dangerous act and he should be detained because he has no boundaries," Miller said. "He is a danger to the community, and he needs to be detained."
Casanova-Candelaria will remain in the Cape May County Correctional Center.
