Latest News 2012 May Intentionally Inhaled Cleaner Cause of Impairment and DUI

Intentionally Inhaled Cleaner Cause of Impairment and DUI

A man has pleaded guilty to DUI, due to causing a car accident with injuries after inhaling cleaner from a compressed air canister that caused him to black out behind the wheel, as reported by the Laramie Boomerang.

Former Wyoming Tech student, T.R.L., 21, pleaded guilty to two felonies in 2nd Judicial District Court: DUI causing serious bodily injury to another and aggravated assault and battery.

District Judge Jeffrey Donnell told T.R.L., "You could be facing up to 20 years in the state penitentiary and/or fines as high as $15,000."

In T.R.L.'s plea deal, prosecutors dismissed a single count of misdemeanor reckless driving. They suggested he be given a sentence that would be split between prison time in the Albany County Detention Center followed by strongly supervised probation.

Another part of the plea deal allow both of the victim's medical expenses and the damages to the vehicles involved in the crash to all be paid for by T.R.L.

The Albany County Prosecuting Attorney Rich Bohling estimated that the amount of money to be paid by T.R.L. would add up to "thousands of dollars" and "that at the time of sentencing we'll probably have a pretty good number."

T.R.L. has been released under a $50,000 bond and will be living with his parents in Iowa while awaiting his sentencing. Bohling added, "We have an arrangement where he checks in with local law enforcement on a regular basis."

On February 8, at approximately 6:30 p.m., T.R.L. blacked out while driving his BMW 325. While unconscious, he drove his vehicle about 50 mph into C.M., 19, at the corner of 15th and Ivinson.

C.M., suffering with multiple broken bones and bleeding in the brain, was transported to Swedish Hospital in Denver. He is currently wheelchair bound and in the midst of physical therapy for leg and pelvis breaks.

T.R.L.'s vehicle didn't stop after hitting C.M. – the car veered into a parking lot, where it ran into a GMC suburban. The force of that collision caused the GMC to ram into two other cars that were parked in the lot.

Two 3.5-ounce canisters of Maxell Blast Away Multi-Purpose Canned Air were found by police in the BMW. T.R.L. admitted to officers that he had inhaled the cleaner before the accident and knew that he had "blacked out"; however, he had inhaled this canned air before but had never blacked out. T.R.L. said, "I have not blacked out once before. I had gotten into an accident with a pole after a snow storm."

T.R.L. also admitted to knowing that inhaling the substance could affect his driving.

In the state of Wyoming, along with impairment from alcohol and controlled substances, it is also illegal to drive if "…under the influence of any glue, aerosol or other toxic vapor that, when intentionally inhaled or sniffed, results in impairment of a person's ability to safely operate a motor vehicle."

Contact a DUI attorney that is well versed in the laws governing your state. Your best defense for a DUI, DWI, OUI or OWI is an experienced DUI attorney.

Categories: DUI, Felony DUI

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