CASPER, Wyo. — A 19-year-old Mills man is charged with four misdemeanors after driving into the pond off a low-lying bend on Outer Drive on Monday evening.
Assistant District Attorney Blaine Nelson told Oil City News after initial appearances on Tuesday that no injuries were reported for the driver and sole passenger.
The driver is charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving, unlawful use of a toxic substance and possession of a liquid THC product.
Nelson told Judge Nichole Collier that the driver is accused of huffing an aerosol substance. Nelson said the circumstances could easily have resulted in a drowning.
According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol report, a witness reported seeing the truck drive down the embankment , through a fence, and straight out into the middle of the pond. The trooper observed no signs of braking. To power through the mud and into the middle of the pond, the trooper believed the driver must have been pressing on the accelerator.
Statements collected during interviews with the occupants led the trooper to believe the pair had purchased cans of computer duster at Walmart and inhaled some of it before proceeding east on Outer Drive.
The man said he’d recently returned to the Natrona County area after spending about a year with a family member in Washington. He said he planned to go back.
He pleaded not guilty and bond was set at $3,000. He is presumed innocent unless proven or pleading guilty.
This story will be updated when the Wyoming Highway Patrol affidavit becomes available.
