Woman Arrested and Three People Cited After Huffing Incident

Via: Kajo Radio

Azalea, Oregon: Public safety officials were alerted that multiple individuals were observed using inhalants inside a vehicle parked at a store. Once officers arrived, a woman was arrested due to a prior probation violation for assault. She was also cited for unlawful possession of inhalants. Two other individuals were cited for public consumption of alcohol. 

Driver Who Caused Fatal Crash Sentenced to 11 Years

via ABC 10 News

A driver was inhaling keyboard cleaner when he rear ended another vehicle, fatally inuring a 9-year-old girl. He was convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and received a DUI. Five canisters of the cleaner were found in the vehicle at the time of the crash.

Wisconsin Man Charged for Huffing

Via whbl.com

A 30-year-old Wisconsin man faces multiple misdemeanor charges for huffing cans of duster in a public area.  Police were called to investigate a suspicious vehicle.  When officers arrived, "they found the man sitting in the passenger seat with foam coming out of his moth and having a confused facial expression."  Officers found three cans of compressed gas cans in the vehicle.  When asked, the man admitted to huffing from them.  He faces up to 27 months in prison if found guilty.

Man Convicted for Driving Under the Influence

Via Record-Times in Wyoming

A 29-year-old man was convicted of driving under the influence of a controlled substance and unlawful use of a toxic substance. He was arrested in April for operating a vehicle while impaired by his use of a vapor not manufactured for human consumption or inhalation.

18 Year Old Driver Huffs & Crashes Car in Tennessee

From TimesNews.Net in Tennessee:

Earlier this week, shortly after 1 am, police responded to a report of a car that had veered off the road. They found that the 18 year old driver had passed out behind the wheel.

She received medical attention at the scene and was transported to the hospital. The deputy noted “her speech was slurred, but due to her injuries a field sobriety test was not conducted.” While waiting for the tow truck they discovered a “12-ounce can of dust remover, two glass pipes and two straws.”

At the hospital she admitted to huffing the computer duster about 15 minutes before the crash along with smoking marijuana and snorting Xanax a few hours earlier. She was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, improper use of hazardous inhalants and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Driver Killed After Huffing, Kids Thrown From Car

From the Barberton Herald in Ohio:

A still developing story:

Last night, a driver, who was allegedly under the influence of an inhalant, lost control of the car in which several other children were traveling. The car overturned, the female driver was pronounced dead at the scene, and the children are in very serious condition.

The first comment under the story is particularly heartbreaking “ my heart goes out to those poor children... we saw them lying on the side of the accident, so sad that their lives will now be changed forever...life is just to precious and short to waste it..in one split second everything can change...”

Mom Huffing & Driving with 2 Week Old Son in Backseat

From Wink News in Florida:

A 30 year old woman was found to have been huffing computer duster while driving – with her two week old son in the backseat.

She passed out, causing her car to “veer off the road, hit a sign, and slammed into a pillar underneath the Interstate.”

Man Crashes Into Hotel

From WWAY-TV (March 12) in North Carolina:

Police arrested a man Friday after he drove his vehicle into a local hotel. Although he was not drunk, police identified signs of inhalant abuse and the man admitted he huffed from two aerosol cans prior to the crash. The man was treated for minor wounds and released to his parents.

Update on Hit and Run Case in California

From the Hi-Desert Star in California:

An update from an earlier blog post regarding a hit-and-run case in California:

On September 16, 2009 the 57-year old driver ran his 1996 Mazda pick-up truck into a 51-year old Danish photographer, fatally injuring him. The driver “is charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run resulting in injury or death.”

Witnesses report that the driver struck the photographer and then “went over the man and spit him out into the gutter.” An off-duty officer called police and then began CPR.

Police soon received a second call regarding another nearby crash. A witness had seen the accident, saw the driver inhaling from a can, took his keys, and called 9-1-1. When police responded they found the same pick-up truck involved in the first accident and the driver was “slumped over the steering wheel of the car” and “kind of out of it.” The driver failed a field sobriety test. Five cans of computer duster were found in the pick-up.

The driver’s wife claims that “her husband takes prescription drugs, but she said he uses the aerosol cans in his construction business.”

3rd Time Man Found Passed Out Behind the Wheel

From the Durant Daily Democrat in Oklahoma:

For the third time this month a man has been arrested for allegedly huffing computer dusting spray while in a vehicle.

Earlier this week a police officer noticed a car stopped in the middle of an intersection. He approached the car and saw a man passed out behind the wheel while holding a can of computer duster. As he attempted to wake the man up, the car sped off. Police chased the car into a parking lot of an apartment complex and arrested him for “suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs and eluding police.”

The previous day and again earlier this same month, the man had been found, by police, passed out behind the wheel of his car with a can of computer duster in his lap.

Accident in Kentucky Blamed on "Intervention"

From WKYT in Kentucky:

A man flipped his truck this weekend after huffing from a can of compressed gas while driving.

His vehicle hit a barrier and then flipped and he admitted that he "had seen someone on the show 'Intervention' do it, and wanted to try it for himself."

Huffing Driver Crushes Man Up Against Market Wall

From the Dothan Eagle in Alabama:

In 2007, Larry Downing, a 60 year old man was struck and killed by a car in a grocery store parking lot. His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the market, the city, and the 27 year-old female driver who hit him.

The driver was allegedly under the influence of an inhalant when she hit him,“crushing him up against the wall of the market.” She pled guilty and was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison.

The suit contends that the police should have arrested the driver earlier that evening after a minor traffic incident. Instead, she was released and ended up killing Mr. Downing a short while later. The suit was scheduled for trial next week but a continuance was granted. It has now been rescheduled for April 5th.

Another Case of Huffing in a Parking Lot

From the Daily Record in New Jersey:

Last Wednesday, a 32 year-old woman and a 48 year-old man were found in a running vehicle in a Bank of America parking lot. Police noticed they had been huffing from two cans.

They individuals were charged with “inhaling toxic chemical fumes and possession of drug paraphernalia.” The driver was also charged with driving while intoxicated.

Driver Crashes Into Railroad Sign

From The Morning Sentinel in Maine

Yesterday, a 23 year-old woman was charged with “unlawful use or possession of inhalants and other violations” after her car veered off the road and struck a railroad crossing warning sign.

Witnesses saw the accident occur and came to the woman’s aid. They found the woman unconscious and she was taken to the hospital. She admitted to the police that before the crash she had been inhaling computer dusters and police note that five empty cans had been found in her car.

Huffing & Driving: A Fatal Combination

From the Philly.com Daily News in Pennsylvania

Last month, a 20 year old female lost control of her car and drove onto a sidewalk at Delaware County Memorial Hospital striking two female pedestrians; killing one and critically injuring the other. Nicole Gallo, 19 of Clifton Heights was killed instantly when Rachael Jankins, 20 veered off the road, crossed two lanes of traffic, and hit Gallo from behind. Gallo's 20 year old friend sustained multiple injuries from the crash "including a broken back."

Jankins initially told police that she had been “searching for her iPod” prior to the incident; but toxicology reports reveal traces of the chemical difluoroethane to have been present in her system at the time of the crash- a chemical found in computer dusting products. Police also recovered a can of computer duster from the vehicle. Jankins could face charges of vehicular homicide and manslaughter in connection to the crash.

This is not the first time area residents have been confronted with the dangerous reality of inhalant abuse. In 1999, five high school juniors were killed when the car they were riding in hit a tree. The driver and three passengers were found to have difluoroethane in their blood. A can of computer duster was found in the car.

In 2001, a 17 year old honors student was killed when her truck hit a tree after she had been inhaling computer duster.

Driver Passes Out In Traffic

From WSAZ News Channel 3 in St. Albans, West Virginia

West Virginia Police issuing a routine vehicle inspection point over the weekend discovered an unmoving vehicle in line to be the cause of traffic back up and delays. Police found the vehicle’s 18 year-old male driver passed out at the wheel along with an unconscious female passenger. Officers believe both were “huffing inhalants” and taking prescription drugs in the car, as a bottle of Oxycodone was recovered from the driver’s possession.

According to police reports the teen driver was also involved in an accident just hours before being discovered unconscious, wherein extensive damage was elicited to a chain link fence bordering a local car dealership. The driver is currently in jail, and is being held on charges related to a handful of crimes including; DUI, simple possession, fleeing the scene of an accident, and driving without a license.

Driver Passes Out, Passenger Steers Car

From Fox 21 Online in Duluth, Minnesota:

A 29 year-old driver was taken into custody after allegedly crashing her car in a “huffing” related incident.

Witnesses report that the passenger of the car was steering because the driver has passed out. The car “slammed into a bakery, after side-swiping a Ford Taurus which sent it careening into oncoming traffic and into the building.” Thankfully, no one was injured.

Driver crashes 3 Times After Huffing

From the Gary Post Tribune in Indiana:

An 18-year old male “was involved in three separate, serious crashes Sunday after allegedly inhaling the propellant from canned dust cleaner.” However, he wasn’t arrested because he needed medical treatment after the third crash.

The driver was brought to the emergency room after he crashed his father’s truck into a tree. Police had received reports for two earlier accidents involving the same truck – and all within the previous half hour.

The first car hit “suffered at least $10,000 worth of damages and was towed from the scene.” The driver of the car took himself and his two 15-year old passengers to the emergency room.

In the second accident, he rear-ended a car and then “allegedly then pulled up next to the damaged vehicle, smiled, then cut across a cement median and did a U-turn despite traffic.” That car also had to be towed.

After the third crash into the tree, the 18-year old driver was found unconscious inside. The truck had “heavy front-end damage, was missing most of the passenger side headlight assembly and its passenger side front tire was lying on the ground.” Parts of the truck were also left at the scene of the previous two accidents.

The driver allegedly told police he had been at a house “where at least six people were huffing dust remover. “ He denied huffing it himself but admitted the fumes may have impacted him but he “didn’t think he was that messed up to drive.” He has little recollection of crashing into the tree and remembers nothing about the previous two accidents.

Huffing and Driving in Wyoming

From the Cody Enterprise in Wyoming:

Yesterday, a 22 year old male driver was arrested “for leaving the scene of an accident, failure to give information, interference with a police officer, probation violation and DWUI.”

A woman called the police Thursday evening to say her car was hit by another vehicle which then drove away. En route, police learned it also hit an unoccupied vehicle and a bystander directed the police to an apartment building.

The police report notes that one officer saw the driver “peering out the back of the residence and throwing things from the window.” When he refused to open the door, they had to use a “breaching ram to open an apartment door to arrest him.”

The officer also reported a “distinct odor of alcohol coming from his body, and breath tests reported a blood alcohol content of .03, a violation of his parole.”

Inside the apartment police found a receipt for computer cleaning spray that the man had purchased from Wal-Mart only eight minutes before. They also found a can that the man’s girlfriend “reportedly tossed in a dumpster after police left the apartment.”

“In the detention center, officers recorded him asking his girlfriend what happened. She told him he hit three cars. He told her he “must have blacked out.” He said he remembered the air bags deploying and then driving home.”

The article also references previous “huffing and driving” cases in Cody, Wyoming. In January an 18 year-old man admitted he had been huffing computer dusting spray when he blacked out. He hit the entrance sign at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center Museum which will cost $69,000 to repair. He pleaded guilty to DUI-controlled substance, his second.

In September 2007 another 18 year old driver was also caught huffing computer dusting spray while driving. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail with 120 days suspended on a reckless driving charge.

Police Officer Found Abusing Inhalants

From the Southgate NewsHerald in Michigan:

Court records for a related case revealed that a 39 year old police officer had been stopped twice for using inhalants while driving. The incidents occurred in Flat Rock and Wyandotte.

On November 14, 2007 he was found asleep at the wheel and the officer discovered he had been huffing a can of computer dusting spray. Then eleven days later he “ran over his mailbox and his neighbor’s fence while under the influence of inhalants.”