HOUSTON – A dentist in the Houston area has been charged after being caught with over 100 canisters of nitrous oxide in the back seat of his car after a traffic stop in The Heights.
Christopher Michael Pedlar, 39, is charged with possession of volatile chemicals and fleeing a police officer. He was released after posting a $10,000 bond.
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Harris County Pct. 1 Constable Alan Rosen said it happened on Saturday when a patrol supervisor with the constable’s office tried to pull over a vehicle in the 400 block of W. 19th Street. Rosen said the vehicle was speeding.
Rosen said the driver refused to pull over for about half a mile before eventually pulling over.
When the supervisor looked inside the car, he could see the 107 canisters in the back seat.
“Inside the car, there were canisters that said nitrous oxide on the outside and they were cold, and they had a mask,” Rosen said.
Rosen said Pedlar confessed to the supervisor that he had been “huffing” the nitrous oxide, which is also known as laughing gas.
This is the second time Pedlar has been in trouble for this kind of activity. On Dec. 2, 2024, he was arrested and charged with inhalant paraphernalia, possession of a volatile chemical, and interfering with the duties of a public servant, according to court records. He had been out of jail on a $5,000 bond for that arrest.
Rosen said Pedlar had acknowledged to them that he knew he had a problem.
“He’s had priors, a couple of priors, its really sad because this guy’s a professional, he’s in the field of dentistry,” Rosen said. “The fact that he knows he has a problem, I’m just hoping that his family, friends, somebody that cares about him actually helps him and forces the issue so he can get help.”
Pedlar is a doctor of dentistry and an assistant professor at the UT Health School of Dentistry.
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