Local News

Trial set for driver charged with huffing, crashing into cars

By Journal staff | Friday, October 03, 2008

A man accused of huffing air propellant who crashed into three cars will go on trial Nov. 18 and 19 in Rapid City.

Maconnell Baker, 25, Rapid City, is charged in 7th Circuit Court with vehicular battery and second-offense driving under the influence. He was arrested May 7 after an accident near Knollwood Heights Elementary School that sent one man to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

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Police believe Baker was inhaling air propellant shortly before the crash. The propellant gas replaces oxygen in the brain and can cause the user to black out.

Investigators said Baker was driving south on North Maple Avenue when his Nissan Xterra struck a southbound Jeep Cherokee, causing it to spin. They said the Xterra then hopped the curb and traveled along the sidewalk before crashing into the driver's-side door of a Honda Accord, driven by 29-year-old Shaun Herrod. The Xterra then struck a parked motorcycle owned by a Knollwood crossing guard.

Herrod was critically injured but survived. His 4-year-old son, who was in the vehicle, was not injured, nor was the driver of the Cherokee.

If convicted of vehicular battery, Baker faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. The DUI charge is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $2,000 fine upon conviction.

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