The 38-year-old man struck and injured by a Metro bus on May 3 while crossing 104th Avenue Southeast on the East Hill in Kent has died.
Kent Police identified the man on Monday as Larry D. Andrews.
Andrews reportedly had been inhaling from an aerosol gas duster can prior to the accident and even after the accident, according to the police report. When an officer arrived, Andrews was face down in the street with the can in his hand. Despite injuries from the bus running over him, Andrews sat up and inhaled from the can.
The officer noted in the report that gas duster cans (used to clean electrical or computer equipment) are used by some people as a recreational drug for its intoxicating effects. Known as huffing, the the misuse can cause impaired balance, mental impairment and even unconsciousness.
Andrews, reportedly a transient from Florida based on identification found in his wallet, apparently fell off a curb and under the rear tire of the bus as it pulled away from a bus stop, according to witnesses. The accident occurred at about 1:40 p.m. near Applebee’s restaurant.
Witnesses told officers that the man had stumbled down the sidewalk as if he were drunk. Several people saw him inhaling from the can.
The bus driver told police he had just started to pull away from the stop when he felt a bump. A passenger told the driver he had just run over someone near the rear of the bus.
Andrews was conscious when police and Kent Fire Department crews arrived. Paramedics transported the man with life-threatening injuries to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he later died.
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