'Madman' Arrested In South Bay Teen's Fentanyl Overdose: DA

LOS GATOS, CA – A South Bay man accused of selling fentanyl-laced pills to Los Gatos High School students was arrested, authorities said.

Simon Armendariz, 23 of San José, who goes by the monikers “Risky” and “Madman,” was arrested and charged with selling drugs to minors (a felony), the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Armendariz was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday. He faces prison time if convicted.

Armendariz is accused of selling drugs to 15-year-olds in several downtown Los Gatos locations, including the parking lot of Los Gatos High School or a nearby church.

His arrest culminated an investigation that began when the Santa Clara Police Department responded to a report that a 15-year-old girl had overdosed in the bathroom during a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, authorities said.

The pill the girl overdosed on – a counterfeit Percocet pill laced with fentanyl – was traced to Armendariz, authorities said.

Armendariz urged his teenaged buyers to share his contact information to build up his customer list, authorities said. His growing student clientele were so aware of the deadly risk of the toxic pill that they often carried Narcan in case they overdosed.

“This is not a war on drugs, this is a struggle to save lives,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement.

“There are no good excuses with fentanyl. It kills and everybody knows it: the dealers, the manufacturers. We will find them, arrest them, and hold them accountable for selling poison for profit.”