Crime & Safety

Suspicious Noises Coming from Toilet Result in Ferndale Man's Arrest

Police forced open the door of portable toilet and found suspect with spray can in one hand an the other "buried in the toilet."

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Beth Dalbey, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge

Unusual noises coming from a portable toilet at a Milford city park led to the arrest of a 28-year-old Ferndale man last weekend under a local ordinance that prohibits “huffing” — the act of inhaling toxic gases from an aerosol can to get high.

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A witness reported to police that a man was seen entering a portable toilet in Central Park about 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, followed by spray can noises and then a thud, according to a report on the Detroit Free Press.

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When police arrived, the man said through a locked door that he was sleeping. His voice was “extremely slurred,” according to police, so they forced the door open and found the man sitting on the floor with a can of compressed air in his hand. His left hand was reportedly “buried in the toilet.” Police said they don’t know what, if anything, he was holding.

Though the man initially resisted police and refused to leave the toilet, he complied when police drew a stun gun.

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After he was medically cleared by responders from the Milford Fire Department, the man was arrested on a charge of abuse of inhalants/chemicals under a local ordinance.

He reportedly was already on probation for an operating while under the influence offense.

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