SAN DIEGO (CNS) - San Diego County's first jury trial for a DUI case involving nitrous oxide resulted in guilty verdicts against a 34-year-old man, the San Diego City Attorney's Office announced Thursday.
The defendant was found on March 10 behind the wheel of a car that was partially on a sidewalk, according to prosecutors. He then struck a parked car as he tried to move his vehicle, after which officers saw him inhale from a nitrous oxide canister, then display "signs of impairment consistent with nitrous oxide use," the City Attorney's Office said.
Ten nitrous oxide canisters were later found inside the vehicle.
A San Diego County jury convicted the man of two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of a drug and possession of nitrous oxide with intent to inhale for purposes of intoxication.
San Diego City Attorney Heather Ferbert said in a statement, "Impairment is impairment. It does not matter whether it comes from a bottle, a pill or a canister. Even a few minutes behind the wheel while impaired is a few minutes too long. It takes just moments for an impaired driver to lose control and catastrophically harm someone. Impaired driving endangers everyone on the road."
San Diego Police Department Chief Scott Wahl said, "This verdict sends a clear message that driving under the influence of any substance endangers our community and will not be tolerated."
While nitrous oxide is legal for a variety of purposes ranging from medical to culinary, California has criminalized the recreational use of the drug.
The San Diego County District Attorney's Office said last year that it has seen an uptick in DUI cases involving drivers under the influence of nitrous oxide, including three fatality cases and 18 that resulted in crashes.
The City Attorney's case resulted in a sentence of five years of probation, with the defendant required to undergo DUI education classes, drug and alcohol testing, and to pay restitution and fines.
The City Attorney's Office said part of the consideration behind the sentence stemmed from the defendant promptly entering treatment and presenting proof of his progress at the sentencing hearing.
"Accountability and recovery are not opposites," Ferbert said. "This defendant is doing the work, and the court took that into account. Our job was to ensure accountability for the dangerous choice he made behind the wheel, and we're encouraged by his commitment to recovery."
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