Burglary suspect Christopher M. Abbott is caught puffing gasoline out of a can after ‘breaking into family home’ in Seattle
- Police were called to the posh Seattle home by a frightened 17-year-old
- While waiting for a burglary, they found the suspect in the garage where he had locked himself in a car with a hammer and a gas bottle
Police responding to a reported burglary at a luxury Seattle home were stunned to find the suspect drinking gasoline from a locked car in the garage.
Officers rushed to the home on 5th Avenue Southwest after a 17-year-old girl reported seeing a man with a wooden stick trying to break in.
They forced open the door after hearing loud bangs, which led them to the garage, where they found the suspect in the driver’s seat of the Toyota sedan with a hammer in his lap and a petrol can in his hands.
Police bodycam footage shows officers aiming a gun and shouting, “Hey, put your hands up!” to the man, since identified as Christopher M Abbott.
But instead he put the mouthpiece in his mouth and took a deep drink from the plastic container.
Abbott took one last gulp before officers wrestled the bus off him and dragged him out of the car
Seattle police responded to reports of a “man with a wooden stick” breaking into a home on the posh 8400 block of 5th Avenue Southwest
Abbott brought the bus to his lips after being ordered by police to raise his hands
‘Open the door!’ they shouted, shining a torch into the car and seeing the hammer in his lap.
‘Do not do it!’ Abbott yelled at them and moved his canister aside as an officer reached for a baton.
“I didn’t want trouble, don’t break the windows,” he told them.
“Open the door, or we’ll break it!” urged one of the officers before raising his baton and smashing the window.
‘What the…?’ exclaimed one officer, as Abbott took a last gulp of gas before police wrestled the bus off him and pulled him out of the car.
The bizarre footage ends with Abbott laid on the floor with his arms spread and arrested in handcuffs.
The 17-year-old girl was found safe, hiding on the second floor.
Viewers reacted in surprise when the footage was posted to social media, with one suggesting it was “pretty crazy even by Seattle standards.”
But there have been high-profile cases of people addicted to gasoline, which experts say can cause a “high” that lasts for several hours.
A teenage girl named Shannon showed her addiction on TLC’s My Strange Addiction in 2012, telling the program, “Even though it hurts me, it makes me feel good.”
And in 2011, China Daily reported on a man who had Drinking gasoline for 42 yearscalculating that he had thrown away 1.5 tons during his habit.
Stonemason Chen Dejun, 71, from Chongquin told the publication he tried to cure a cough and chest pain with kerosene but became addicted after switching to gasoline.
Abbott struggled to hold onto the bus, but it was wrestled off him as he was dragged from the vehicle.
With his arms spread on her floor, he was handcuffed, arrested and booked to appear in King County Superior Court on August 31.
Northpoint Recovery in Meridian, Idaho, has treated patients for gasoline addiction and warns that it causes nerve and brain damage in users.
“Some of these permanent effects include cerebellar damage, cranial nerve damage, peripheral neuropathy, and bone marrow damage,” their website advises.
“It surprises most people to learn that gasoline abuse and addiction is possible,” they add, “but this is a form of abuse that is growing in popularity.”
Abbott was treated by paramedics and later committed to King County Jail for residential burglary.
He must appear in court on August 31.