ER - Standoff subject was on meth

Emergency service personnel staged near the scene of the mobile home in Hoopa while Peter Eugene Stewart held law enforcement officers at bay. Shelly Baldy/Hoopa People Newspaper

Standoff subject was on meth
by Heather Muller , 6/21/2007

The body of the 26-year-old Hoopa man who died in a fire that broke out during a standoff with law enforcement officials tested positive for methamphetamine and marijuana, said officials from the Humboldt County Coroner’s Office.

Peter Eugene Stewart died June 4 after a daylong standoff that began with a welfare checkup and ended when a fire of as yet unknown cause swept through the Pine Creek Road mobile home he had occupied.

Humboldt County Deputy Coroner Charles Comer said Stewart’s methamphetamine level, at 0.08 milligrams per liter of blood, was above the effective range, but was not considered toxic.

An autopsy determined Stewart died of smoke inhalation.

Jeff Nicklas, Eureka Fire Department engineer and lead investigator on the case for the Humboldt County Arson Task Force, said the investigation into the fire is ongoing.

“I’ve talked to most of the people I need to talk to. My goal is to have the report submitted to the Sheriff’s Office by the end of the month.”

In other news, the body of 36-year-old Andrew Jason Stewart, found in a Hoopa creek June 9, tested positive for alcohol.

Comer said Andrew Stewart had a blood alcohol level of 0.21, not quite three times the legal limit for operating a vehicle in California.

An autopsy performed June 13 was unable to identify a cause of Andrew Stewart’s death, and Comer said the toxicology results shed little new light.

“He was intoxicated, but not enough to kill him, so we know that’s not what caused his death,” Comer said.

Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office investigators have called Andrew Stewart’s death suspicious and are treating it as a homicide.

Coroner’s officials said the two Stewarts are not related and have ruled out any connection between the two deaths.

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