Man Said To Be High On Gasoline Fumes, Invulnerable To Taser, Causes School Lockdown

Travis Bocci, a 33-year-old Salem, Oregon, man, many have discovered the secret to becoming invulnerable to police tasers. First, get high on gasoline fumes.

That’s what Marion County Sheriff’s deputies believe Bocci was doing before he was spotted wandering around a schoolyard in Brooks, a tiny town just outside of Salem Monday morning at about 11:30. Officials at Willamette Valley Christian School told deputies that the man was incoherent and unresponsive when they tried to communicate with him.

Bocci’s bizarre behavior prompted the school administrators to immediately place the school on lockdown.

Deputies arrived on the scene and found Bocci “mumbling and acting aggressive.” When they attempted to take him into custody, he fought back. As a result, a deputy drew his taser weapon and fired, hitting the apparently highly intoxicated Bocci.

But in his inebriated state, the taser blast simply did not affect Bocci. It took three more deputies to subdue him, finally getting the man in handcuffs and fastening him to a paramedics’ gurney.

Even at a nearby hospital, Bocci continued to act in what deputies decsribed as an “odd” way and resisted the attempts of medical staff to examine and treat him for whatever it was that caused his altered, mentally incapacitated state.

Deputies got an idea of what might have caused Bocci’s bizarre actions and weird invulnerability to a taser strike when they searched his vehicle, which they said smelled strongly of gasoline fumes. Also inside the vehicle they retrieved a type of solvent generally used to clean automotive brakes, but which also gives off strong fumes.

The deputies immediately suspected that Travis Bocci had been inhaling the fumes in order to get high, and that caused his strange condition.

They charged Travis Bocci with resisting arrest, driving under the influence and criminal trespassing. But on the advice of hospital staff, he was released from custody for medical treatment.

Use of inhalants is the fourth most common form of substance abuse, after alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, according to the educational site inhalants.org. The site lists the dangers of inhalants, saying they “can damage the brain and other vital organs, such as the heart, kidneys and liver, causing brain damage or other severe physical impairments.”

A Facebook page for a Travis Bocci who lists his hometown as Salem and bears a strong resemblance to the police mug shot of the man arrested Monday, contains postings, apparently by Bocci, regarding what appears to be an acrimonious custody battle over his children with a former wife.