A Pierce County woman who deputies say was involved in four whippet-related DUI incidents in less than two weeks was arrested Tuesday morning on two $50,000 warrants, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said the first case was reported on Nov. 12, around 1 p.m., when a witness saw a woman sitting in her vehicle inhaling nitrous oxide—commonly referred to as “whippets.”
According to the sheriff’s office, the witness told dispatchers the woman looked sick and impaired while the car was running, and they were worried she might drive off and injure someone.
When deputies arrived for a welfare check, they said they immediately saw her throwing empty nitrous cans into the back seat.
Deputies also noted she was nude from the waist down.
She agreed to complete field sobriety tests and failed each category, the sheriff’s office said.
She was arrested for physical control and booked into the Pierce County Jail.
Three days later, on Nov. 15, Fircrest police arrested the same woman on suspicion of DUI after a crash at 44th Street West and Alameda Avenue.
Police reported she hit a power box and knocked down a power pole.
Her car was destroyed in the crash, and officers said whippet canisters were scattered inside the vehicle.
She was booked again into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of DUI and first-degree malicious mischief for damaging the utility equipment.
Deputies said the pattern continued on Nov. 20, when another caller reported a woman slumped over inside her car with nitrous canisters “all over the place.”
Responding deputies said they were able to stop her before she pulled out of the parking lot and determined there was probable cause for a third DUI.
One of the deputies involved in that arrest was the same deputy who had arrested her less than a week earlier.
According to the sheriff’s office, deputies were frustrated and increasingly worried for public safety, especially because the woman had bailed out quickly after each arrest.
They contacted the University Place City Attorney’s Office in hopes she would be held longer, calling her behavior a significant threat to the community.
On Nov. 23, deputies learned she had been involved in yet another incident in Tacoma.
Investigators said she hit a parked car in a neighborhood, pushing it into another vehicle.
Her car was totaled again.
The following day, sheriff’s officials said they received word that prosecutors had issued two $50,000 DUI warrants, calling her a “high-risk danger to the community.”
On Nov. 26, around 7:30 a.m., deputies went to her home and arrested her on the warrants to ensure she could not continue driving.
The sheriff’s office ended its statement by urging people struggling with addiction—especially inhalants—to seek help, calling them “extremely addictive and dangerous.”
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