Date/Time: 9/18/2011, 1335 Hours
Location: 5500 Littlerock Road, Tumwater
Incident: I’ll Huff, And I’ll Huff, and I’ll Pass the Heck Out
Tumwater Police, and Fire Department responded to the Costco parking lot after 911 dispatch received a call of a man having a seizure in his car. However, after medically checking the man, the Fire Department paramedics determined that his symptoms did not match those of a seizure. The man insisted that he had just recently begun having the seizures and postulated that his symptoms may be different from others.
After speaking with a Costco employee who had placed the 911 call a different picture began to emerge. According to the Costco employee, while collecting shopping carts from the parking lot they had witnessed the man with his mouth up to a can of dust remover and “huffing” while seated in his car. When the man noticed the employee looking at him he quickly moved the can out of sight. A short while later, after collecting all of the carts, the employee noticed the man “making weird movements and acting drunk” with his arm dangling out the widow, still holding the can of dust remover. The man then dropped the can and the attendant picked it up as it rolled across the parking lot pavement, before proceeding to make the 911 call.
During further questioning with Tumwater Police, the man continued to insist that he had had a seizure. When he was told of the witness who stated the had seen him “huffing” prior to his loss of consciousness the man responded, “Well that must be true then.” The man then stated that his girlfriend was inside Costco, where she works.
After being summoned by the Tumwater Police, the man’s girlfriend came outside and stated that she had caught her boyfriend “huffing” the week before, and that she suspected he had been “huffing” for some weeks now. She also noted that his recent seizure episodes seem to correlate with his newfound affinity for “huffing”.
The can of dust remover was logged as evidence and the man was cited for Unlawful Inhalation and Possession of Inhalants.