Huffing And Driving Sends Arkansas Woman Careening Off Highway Into A Tree, And More

Some people start off their day with coffee and maybe a brisk walk. Others prefer tea and perhaps a pastry or light breakfast. Still others light up a cigarette to kick off their morning which, though not particularly healthy, still leaves them able to function and move on with their day.

But for Tracy Milligan, an Arkansas woman, her ability to function was reportedly greatly hampered during her Tuesday morning routine, as she was “huffing” and driving, a combination that led to a crash as she careened off the road, bounced off a tree and ultimately through a chain link fence, reports Rare.

Huffing is a form of recreational intoxication where chemicals or gasses, such as nitrous oxide, usually commandeered from available household or industrial products, are intentionally inhaled from a rag, bag, or, as in Ms. Milligan’s case, inhaled directly from a product’s spray mechanism.

Milligan’s Tuesday morning crash and huffing odyssey reportedly began with a stop at a store, where she picked up a can of air duster, apparently ideal for abusive huffing, then hit the road, allegedly huffing fumes from the can of air duster as she journeyed down the highway.

Unfortunately, huffing, which can give one incredible feelings of euphoria, can also cause hallucinations and inhibit one’s coordination, which is what is believed to have happened to Milligan before the crash, as the 41-year-old Jonesboro woman went huffing her way right off the road and into a tree.

Operating behind the wheel of her Cadillac DeVille, the huffing intoxicated Milligan continued on after hitting the tree, smashing into a chain link fence, the Cadillac reportedly huffing to a stop around 9:55 a.m. atop the fence and some bushes.

According to KAIT 5, police were quickly on the scene after the crash, and upon tending to Milligan as she sat, slumped behind the Cadillac’s steering wheel, found that the woman wasn’t quite done with huffing her can of air duster. Though definitely incapacitated, officer Steve Richardson would soon find that neither the huffing nor the crash had put Milligan down for the count.

“Her breathing was labored with only a deep inhale every few seconds, so I called for EMS… (She had) some type of inhaler in one of her hands… (Then she) sat up, sprayed the can into her face and inhaled deeply before falling back over.”

Milligan slowly emerged from her huffing-induced haze and crash enough to confirm to police that she had stopped at a store and bought the can of air duster, then proceeded to start huffing it. As for the actual crash, however, Milligan had no recollection.

Though uninjured, Milligan’s huffing and driving episode resulted in charges of “DWI-drugs; breathing, inhaling or drinking certain intoxicating compounds; hazardous driving; and driving while license canceled, suspended or revoked.”

Jonesboro police records also show that, along with this latest huffing incident, Milligan has been arrested several times over the past 2 years for charges including possession of a controlled substance and criminal mischief.

[Images via Jonesboro Police Department]