DUBOIS – Charges have been filed against a DuBois woman found passed out in a vehicle in a car wash bay after she was seen “huffing.”
Hunter Nicole Bell, 21, was charged by Sandy Township police with M3 counts of smell/inhale toxic releasing substances and possession of solvent for release of toxic vapors/fumes as well as a summary count of public drunkenness after an incident April 6 at the South Brady Street Car Wash.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, a caller told a 911 dispatcher that a woman in a Honda Civic parked in the bay was inhaling from a can of duster. This witness said the woman was not responding to him knocking on the driver’s side window.
When police arrived and told her to roll down the window of her car, she complied. The officer reported it was hard to understand her due to her slurred speech, and she seemed confused as to where she was at. After she was asked to step out of the vehicle, she allegedly struggled to open the door.
She was told two witnesses had observed her inhaling from a duster can. She admitted she purchased the duster with the intention of inhaling the fumes because it helped her forget about her stress, according to the report.
The officer found a 10 ounce can of Ultra Duster under the driver’s seat. Bell declined to be medically evaluated and was released to her boyfriend.
In May of 2016, Bell faced similar charges after witnesses saw her huffing from a can in the parking lot near Bon Ton on Commons Drive.
She pleaded guilty at the magistrate level to an M3 count of smell/inhale toxic releasing substances in June and was sentenced to one year probation. She was also ordered to pay fines and costs totaling $473.
Her preliminary hearing in the new case is scheduled for May 12 during centralized court.
