Metro officer indicted on drug charges

Bill Gang

Thursday, Sept. 30, 1999 | 11:38 a.m.

A five-year veteran Metro Police officer has been indicted by a Clark County grand jury on charges of drug trafficking and drug use over a May incident that nearly cost him his life.

Officer Jon Aaron Brown, 30, was indicted Wednesday along with 26-year-old Lydia Frances Gorzoch in whose apartment the patrolman was found unconscious from an apparent overdose of the so-called "date rape drug" gamma hydroxbutyric acid, known as GHB.

According to the indictment, Brown also had methylenedioxymethamphetamine, commonly known as "Ecstasy," in his system.

The drug trafficking charges against the pair were the result of the discovery of more than 50 grams of GHB in the apartment at 4650 W. Oakey Blvd. No Ecstasy was found there, according to Deputy District Attorney Eric Jorgenson.

The prosecutor emphasized that the trafficking charges are a result of the quantity of drugs found and do not include allegations of the actual sale of drugs.

Jorgenson said emergency medical personnel who were summoned through a 911 call to the apartment found Brown near death.

Brown testified in his own defense before the grand jury that he did not knowingly ingest the drugs, which are odorless and colorless.

But the grand jurors found his story to be inconsistent with other evidence, according to Jorgenson, and indicted him on the felony charges that could cost him his career if he is convicted.

Metro spokesman Steve Merriweather said that Brown had been on administrative leave with pay before the indictment although that could change once Metro's internal investigation is complete in the near future.

He said drug charges like those Brown faces could result in termination under the department's rules.

Brown is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 6 in District Judge Joseph Bonaventure's courtroom. Gorzoch is set to be arraigned Oct. 13.