Man Starts Huffing Inhalant as Officer Tries to Remove Him From Vehicle

A 27-year-old Braselton man is facing charges after an Aug. 11 incident on Sardis Church Road.

A Gwinnett County Police officer was dispatched to a location approximately half a mile north of Hamilton Mill Road just after 4 p.m. in response to an unknown medical situation. Upon arrival, the officer found a 2012 Range Rover stopped in the middle of the roadway. The driver, later identified as William Addison Gunn, was slumped forward in the driver's seat with his cell phone in his lap. 

The officer tried to open the vehicle door, but it was locked.

"I knocked on the driver's side window in an attempt to wake Gunn," the officer wrote in the report. "Gunn then raised his head and looked at me. I noticed that his eyes were dilated and he looked confused or dazed."

The officer instructed Gunn to open the door, but Gunn reportedly stared at him with a "bewildered" look on his face before lowering his head. The officer tried again to get Gunn to open the door and Gunn responded by picking up an aerosol can typically used for dusting, putting the nozzle in his mouth and depressing the trigger.

"As Gunn was huffing the inhalant, I continued to knock on the door/window in an effort to get him out of the vehicle," the officer wrote.

In order to stop Gunn from inhaling any more of the substance, the officer used a glass punch to shatter the driver's side window. The officer was able to put the vehicle in park and take the aerosol can away from Gunn.

The officer order Gunn to exit the vehicle, but Gunn refused. The officer attempted to pull him out of the vehicle, but Gunn maintained his grip on the arm rest. Once another officer warned Gunn he would be tased if he did not exit the vehicle, Gunn opted to comply.

Gunn was placed under arrest and transported to the Gwinnett County Jail without incident and his vehicle impounded. According to the report, Gunn apologized for his behavior on the way to the jail saying he was very sorry to have wasted the officer's time. He was subsequently booked into the Gwinnett County Jail on charges of DUI and impeding the flow of traffic and was released the following day on a $1,368 bond.

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