SULTAN, Wash. — Police say a Sultan teenager may have been huffing chemicals before he crashed a car on Highway 2 Thursday night, killing one of his friends.
Dust-Off, often used to clean computer keyboards, contains a chemical used as a refrigerant that can be fatal if inhaled.
Police say they found three cans of the compressed air in Anthony Box's car, but Monday in Snohomish County Court his attorney insisted Box was not under the influence of anything.
"There's no radar gun, there's no reconstruction, there's no in car telemetry,” his attorney argued.
Box sat next to him, making his first court appearance by video.
He says there is no proof Box's car—as troopers say—hit speeds of 100 miles an hour before launching over a guardrail on Highway 2 near Monroe and into a ditch, killing 17-year-old Madison Whiddon and injuring three other girls, two just 14 years old.
Madison's friends talked to us hours after the crash.
“It's such a small community and everyone knows everyone, it hits so deep,” explained Juanita Headrick.
Box's attorney also denied the teen was on drugs, but court documents released Monday say officers at the scene said Box appeared impaired. His speech was slow and there were cans of Dust-Off in the vehicle.
The prosecutor asked for $100,000 bail and got it.
"Based upon the defendant's danger to the community,” she concluded.
Box had his blood drawn after the crash, and that will determine whether or not he was under the influence of the inhalant or anything else, but those results can take weeks.
KIRO
