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OREM — Police say it's lucky no one got hurt, or worse, when a man was driving along the busiest roads in Orem while using cans of air duster to get high.
At around noon, Orem police Sgt. Craig Martinez said they got a call about a man while huffing a can of air duster near 800 South and State Street. Police found the car as it was going down University Parkway near 1000 West, a very busy area not far from Utah Valley University and I-15
"When our officer actually pulled up to the side of the car, he could see the driver was actually holding a can of dust off," Martinez said. The 30-year-old driver was cited and police removed several cans of dust off from the car.
Martinez said it's very lucky the driver didn't lose control or pass out while driving which they have seen happen in the past with other drivers.
While the driver was an adult, Martinez was concerned about the effects air duster has on kids. He said Orem police are seeing more kids start huffing dust off because it's easy to buy at the store.
"The first time you try it, it can kill you. Kids don't think about that until it's too late," Martinez said.
In January, 18-year-old Spencer Nicolas rolled his vehicle several times while huffing air duster and driving in Syracuse. Nicholas and another teen passenger barely survived that accident.
Martinez said the driver was not arrested for driving under the influence because the effects from huffing dust off disappear quickly and may not show up in a field sobriety test, making it difficult to prove the driver was impaired. However, he was cited with abusing a psychotoxic chemical, a class B misdemeanor. This same man had an earlier run-in with the law when he was found huffing dust off in a store.
