Police Nab Palos Park Man with 12 Packets of Heroin

Police have announced another arrest in what officials say is an ongoing investigation into the increased heroin use and number of overdoses in Palos Hills.

Deividas Vizgaitis, 20, of Palos Park, was found with 12 individually wrapped packets of heroin during a traffic stop on Dec. 19, police said. He is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and possession of cannabis.

Vizgaitis’ arrest is the latest in an investigation by Palos Hills detectives over the past year, police said. Several people have overdosed on the drug, including one death.

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“The latest arrests are a testament to the fact that heroin is coming to the southwest suburbs at an alarming rate,” said Palos Hills Police Chief Paul Madigan in a media release.

More arrests were made earlier in December after an investigation by Palos Hills, working with Cook County Sheriff’s deputies, led them to two men in Chicago, police said. Eric Davis, 26, and Tony P. James, 28, both of Chicago, were charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance. They allegedly sold heroin to an undercover police officer in the 4800 block of Madison Avenue.

Investigators were tracking the origin of heroin in Palos HIlls when their work brought them to Chicago, said Deputy Chief Jeff Cucio.

Nine heroin-related arrests have been made since October, police said.

“I am pleased with the results our investigation has produced so far,” Madigan said, “ and we will continue to attack this problem to keep our children safe from heroin.”

A Palos Hills teenage girl overdosed in October and then, again, in November. .

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