Community Service for Inhalant Related Explosion

From Longmont Daily News in Colorado:

Three female teenagers (ages 18, 16 and 16) who were injured in a huffing related incident on October 23rd are now engaged in a “local restorative justice program.”

The three were injured when after huffing air fresheners in a car. One of them lit a cigarette. The car was totaled and the three teens suffered burns.

The charges were listed as follows: “Police ticketed the 18-year-old driver on suspicion of abusing toxic vapors and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The 16-year-old girl in the front passenger seat of the car was ticketed on suspicion of abusing toxic vapors, and the 16-year-old in the back seat was ticketed on suspicion of abusing toxic vapors and fourth-degree arson.”

However, with the restorative justice program, the girls “can avoid criminal convictions if they complete their contracts. If they don’t, they will be referred back to the criminal justice system.”

The girls had to meet “with people affected by the explosion including two police officers, a volunteer fireman, three adult community members, two volunteer facilitators and one advocate for each of the teens.”Each of the teens will also “have to write letters of “apology and reflection” to the people affected by the explosion; research and write an educational presentation for school resource officers to use or for their own use; and participate in CPR classes, drug testing, an employment search, and 10 hours a month in a recreational program to get exercise.”