Investigators: Man passed out from inhalant before crashing into Hayden apartment, killing resident

May 29-A man, who was released from prison Monday, got high the next day off an air can in the Hayden Walmart parking lot before crashing minutes later into an apartment, killing an older man inside, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office.

Dillon W. Henderson, 41, of Coeur d'Alene, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter in the death of Richard Allmon and felony DUI. This would be Henderson's third DUI in five years, according to court documents. He was then booked into the Kootenai County Jail where he remained Friday.

It was Henderson's 48th booking into the Kootenai County Jail, according to a sheriff's office news release.

Henderson was driving his father's Dodge Ram pickup late Tuesday afternoon on Honeysuckle Avenue after leaving Walmart. He swerved into the opposite lane, crossed a driveway, went over a curb and struck a fire hydrant, investigators wrote in court documents. Henderson crashed about 20 feet deep into an apartment building in the 8700 block of North Avalanche Lane.

Henderson struck Allmon, who died at the scene, and a woman, identified in court records as Pamela Mueller. Allmon and Mueller were trapped under the truck, according to the news release.

Mueller was taken to the hospital for a cut thigh that required staples, court records show. Henderson tried to reverse the truck out of the structure, but when he failed, he got out of the vehicle through a window and waited for first responders.

Mueller told deputies she and her friend, Allmon, were in the living room of the apartment eating dinner. She was sitting on the couch and Allmon was in the recliner next to the couch. She then heard a loud noise and saw a "large black object" coming through the sliding door at them. The truck entered the residence and cut her thigh.

Henderson "displayed confusion of his daily events," but said he crashed because of a mechanical failure in the truck, court records say. He said the steering wheel became stiff and the brakes did not work. He was adamant he was not driving under the influence.

An inspection of the truck found it was mechanically sound.

Surveillance footage from Walmart, which is about two blocks from the crash site, showed Henderson buying a pair of Dust Off air cans before exiting the store and getting in his truck. After about five minutes, he drove out of the parking lot and crashed one minute later.

Deputies found the two Dust Off cans in the truck; one was unopened and one had been used. They also found a used can of "Space Gas," or nitrous oxide.

Investigators wrote that inhalants, like Space Gas or Dust Off, produce a rapid "high" by affecting the central nervous system. Short-term effects include dizziness, euphoria, slurred speech, impaired coordination, hallucinations and sudden loss of consciousness. Repeated inhalation in a short time can cause death.

Investigators believe Henderson used the Dust Off in the Walmart parking lot, drove away, passed out from the inhalant and swerved off the road and into the apartment building.

Deputies interviewed Henderson again two days after the crash. Henderson admitted to opening one of the Dust Off cans and using it in the truck, but said he did not inhale it. He did not explain what he used the can for in the parking lot.

A deputy told Henderson a lab report would show the use of inhalants. Henderson replied, "You can't get a DUI for sucking air."

Henderson's father told deputies his son had used inhalants in the past.

Henderson was sentenced last June in Kootenai County District Court to a one-year rider program for felony possession of a controlled substance, according to online court records. A rider means a judge retains jurisdiction in the case and sent Henderson to an Idaho Department of Correction rehabilitation program instead of prison.

Henderson had a jurisdictional review hearing May 22 for the drug charge, was released from custody and placed on probation.

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 7:07 PM.