The Apex teen charged last week with stealing Freon from air-conditioning units is facing new charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, authorities said.
Lanious Hume III, 18, of Jerimouth Drive in the Crockett's Ridge subdivision, is accused of encouraging three boys, ages 12, 13 and 15, to inhale the Freon from a plastic bag, according to arrest warrants filed in the Wake County Magistrate's Office.
Hume is charged with three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was previously charged with five counts of misdemeanor larceny in the Freon thefts from air-conditioning units in his neighborhood, authorities said.
Police said the Freon was captured in bags and used as an inhalant.
Cans of freon have warnings saying deliberate inhalation of freon can be dangerous and a person can die suddenly.
But drug education officials say victims can also suffer worse fates than death.
Mike Sullivan with the Drug Education Council said, "There are people that do the huffing that have permanent brain damage and live like a vegetable in a vegetative state for the rest of their years, and they could live 20, 30 years like that."
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