MTI students crash, get arrested for huffing

Two Mitchell Technical Institute students are in Davison County Jail after Mitchell police arrested them for huffing canned air and crashing a vehicle.

Martin Bruce, 22, of Blaine, Minn., was driving a tan 2002 Kia Spectra east on Spruce Street by the north MTI campus when he blacked out and his vehicle left the road, said Officer Pat Marler. Bruce’s vehicle hit a railroad warning sign, a mailbox, telephone junction box and a 6-foot-tall by 8-foot-wide MTI campus sign.

“They were still off the road when they went down a small hill and into the parking lot of the Energy Center building,” Marler said.

Timberwolf Runningwolf, 21, of Eagle Butte, was a passenger in the vehicle. The men claimed to have been wearing their seat belts, but had exited the vehicle prior to officers arriving on scene, Marler said. Two airbags also deployed in the crash. Bruce left the scene prior to calling the Mitchell Police Division to report the crash, he added.

Both men were arrested for ingesting a substance other than alcohol to become intoxicated and Bruce was also arrested for driving under the influence. All are misdemeanor charges with maximum penalties of one year in county jail, a $2,000 fine or both.

The Mitchell Ambulance also responded to the scene, checked out both men, but did not treat them or take them to the hospital, Marler said.

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