Woman Hit by Huffing Driver

A woman was in a South Carolina Wal-Mart parking lot on Tuesday when a car ran directly into her. She was knocked out of her shoes and flew through the air and hit her head, requiring surgical staples. A 17-year-old high school student was behind the wheel, apparently high from a computer duster. He had skipped school that day. After hitting the woman, he continued driving until he hit a parked truck and a tree.

He is being charged with:

• driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• unlawfully using an aromatic hydrocarbon as an intoxicant
• unlawfully possessing an aromatic hydrocarbon

According to the officers,

Jones huffed an aerosol computer cleaner for several hours before the car he was driving struck Starnes in a crosswalk, then hit a parked truck and a tree. The huffing led Jones to lose consciousness, which he didn’t regain until the air bag deployed.

"It’s just a shame to see somebody that young doing something like that, going to jail, and it could have possibly killed somebody over stupidity,” Starnes said.

The woman injured had bruises covering her right side. She is a massage therapist and is unsure when she'll be able to work again.

It's interesting to note how many young people are using dusters rather than other products while driving.