Police arrest man after a drug sale at Raleigh nightclub led to a fatal overdose
A 30-year-old man faces multiple drug charges after local and state police say he sold drugs at a Raleigh nightclub to someone who later overdosed and died, according to court documents.
State police charged Luis Baez-Roman, 30, with trafficking heroin, possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver cocaine and methamphetamine. He was also charged with selling drugs from his car, possession of a firearm by a felon and violating his probation. In January, Baez-Roman pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to sell the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.
The new charges followed an investigation into a drug deal inside Insomnia nightclub at 15 Fenton Street, wrote Alcohol Law Enforcement Special Agent Tyler Pierce in court documents. The documents didn’t reveal information about the overdose or the person who died, other than that the drug involved was likely heroin.
The investigation started around July 15 after Raleigh police Detective K. Morgan contacted Pearce about a person who overdosed and died after buying drugs inside Insomnia. The owner of Insomnia couldn’t provide surveillance footage to Pearce, he said, because the tapes erase after 24 hours. Morgan, however, provided a telephone number for the suspected drug dealer, according to a Wake County search warrant.
On July 17, Pearce texted the phone number, asking to purchasing $60 worth of heroin. The person responded, saying he was dropping his girlfriend off at work, but would meet Pearce in the parking lot of the Walmart on New Hope Church Road in Raleigh.
Man detained during planned drug sale
When the man arrived, he texted Pearce his location and said he was in a Honda CRV, the warrant says. Pearce and another officer in an unmarked car pulled up on either side of the Honda as the man went from looking around to starting to flee.
“His eyes got large, and he immediately began putting the vehicle in reverse to leave,” Pearce wrote in the warrant application, which only tells the police side of the incident.
Officers detained the man, who they identified as Baez-Roman, in the parking lot. Pearce then called the cell phone number of the man he had been texting with, and Baez-Roman’s phone immediately rang and displayed the officer’s number.
Officers found methamphetamine and possibly heroin packaged in small packets in Baez-Roman’s SUV, the warrant states. When they searched Baez-Roman’s Jane Lane home, officers seized $21,637 in cash, two bags with suspected heroin and three bags of a substance they suspect is cocaine, according to the warrant.
Baez-Roman is being held at the Wake County jail on bonds that total $345,000, according to jail records.
In January, Baez-Roman was convicted of possession with intent to sell fentanyl in a plea deal with a prosecutor who dropped additional charges that included selling or delivering drugs within about 1,000 of a Broughton High School boundary, according to court documents. Baez-Roman was sentenced to 12 months of supervised probation, but now may have to serve time on the conviction after violating his probation.
Second Insomnia nightclub incident
The drug deal is at least the second instance in which the Insomnia club was linked to a fatal crime in recent years. A man was shot and killed at the club just before 3 a.m. on May 7, 2023, CBS17 reported. Police ruled the killing was a justifiable homicide, according to a Raleigh police report.
In general, local or Alcoholic Law Enforcement officers investigate criminal actions within bars and nightclubs, and sometimes report alleged violations of North Carolina’s laws related to the sales of alcohol to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.
ABC Commission spokesperson Jeff Strickland said there haven’t been any reported ABC violations following the July drug deal allegations, but sometimes such reports can come in days after the alleged crime.
Following the May 2023 shooting, Insomnia representatives have paid fines twice to the ABC Commission following allegations of violating the state alcoholic beverage sales laws.
In September 2023, club representatives agreed to pay $1,000 to avoid a 10-day suspension of ABC permits on the charge of failing to superintend the premises on June 17, 2023, according to ABC Commission documents and Strickland.
In October 2023, club representatives agreed to pay and additional $1,200 to avoid a 12-day suspension. The business was charged with allowing consumption of alcoholic beverages outside the legal hours and failing to clear tables and counters of all alcoholic beverages on May 14, 2023, according to an Oct. 11 meeting summary for the commission and Strickland.
The News & Observer left telephone messages with Rosemary Sanchez, who is listed as the club’s only officer on the ABC Commission’s website. The club has had permits to sell alcohol since at least Jan. 1, 2023, according to the ABC Commission.
Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published July 26, 2024 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Police arrest man after a drug sale at Raleigh nightclub led to a fatal overdose."
