Zach Yinger Charged With Nitrous Oxide Possession After Search Of Collinsville Studio 420

COLLINSVILLE – The owner of Studio 420 in Collinsville has been charged with possession of nitrous oxide after a series of purchases were made by undercover Illinois State Police agents, resulting in a search of the property and the seizure of several items.

Zachariah F. Yinger, 37, of Alton, was charged on Sept. 19, 2025 with a Class 3 felony count of unlawful possession of nitrous oxide with the intent to deliver.

According to a Complaint For Search Warrant filed on Aug. 19, 2025, Illinois State Police Special Agent Corey Martin requested the issuance of a search warrant for the Studio 420 location at 106 W. Main St. in Collinsville.

There, he aimed to search for, seize, and return items including: nitrous oxide; U.S. currency; firearms and firearm ammunition; as wellas safes, lock-boxes, storage containers, secured storage containers, secured safes, and the contents therein.

Authorities also sought to seize “paraphernalia and equipment used for ingesting nitrous oxide” including “crackers” and “balloons.” according to the National Institutes of Health, “crackers” are devices used to open nitrous oxide cartridges, which are then filled into balloons before being inhaled.

Agent Martin also sought to recover any and all evidence of “transporting, purchasing, delivering or possessing nitrous oxide,” including video recordings, computer hardware, records, ledgers, receipts, checks, bank statements, and more.

Martin executed the search warrant the following day on Aug. 20, 2025. According to the official Evidence Log, the following items were recovered from the display cases in the store showroom:

• 80 large nitrous oxide (NO2) tanks

• Eight whip cream dispensers

• Several boxes of various brands of NO2 cartriges

• One full and partial box of NO2 “crackers”

• Box of black rubber gaskets

• Five boxes of “whip cream nozzles”

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Additionally, undetermined amounts of U.S. currency were recovered from a safe within the property, as well as the top shelf of a nearby closet and from the store’s cash register.

Undercover Sales Lead To Search Warrant

According to an Affidavit For Search Warrant filed on Aug. 19, 2025, Martin received information from a fellow Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois (MEGSI) special agent “of possible nitrous oxide sales, with the intent of getting high, occurring at Studio 420” in Collinsville.

On Aug. 13, 2025, Special Agent Michael Flake was requested to go inside the business to determine if nitrous oxide sales were taking place. Flake reportedly “observed nitrous oxide inside of a glass case on the eastern wall of the store for sale.” Yinger was identified as the business owner based on Collinsville business records.

On Aug. 18, 2025, an undercover MEGSI agent was given $40 to attempt to purchase nitrous oxide and a “cracker” from the Collinsville Studio 420. The agent was equipped with a recording device during the operation.

After entering the store, the undercover agent reportedly asked one of the store employees about nitrous oxide “cream chargers,” after which the employee guided them to the eastern wall of the store, where the nitrous oxide products were located.

The employee then proceeded to give the undercover agent advice about which products to buy and how to properly use the cracker. He also reportedly told the agent that larger NO2 tanks don’t require balloons, “which could be considered paraphernalia if you get pulled over with it,” adding that if police find crackers on the floorboard of one’s vehicle, “they will try to get you with a DUI.”

After selecting a box of 24 nitrous oxide canisters and a cracker, the employee then took the undercover agent to the front counter and showed them exactly how to use the cracker to release the nitrous oxide. He added that the store requires customers purchasing anything that “alters your mind frame” to be at least 21 years of age, “because one of their stores got ‘raided’ a couple years ago.” This is believed to refer to the Studio 420 location in Alton, which was raided in March of 2024 before being “voluntarily permanently closed” in May of 2024.

The undercover agent exchanged two $20 bills for the products, which were placed into a black plastic back before the agent returned to a predetermined location.

Another undercover agent was equipped with covert recording devices and given $60 to attempt the purchase of a nitrous oxide tank at the same Collinsville Studio 420 location on Aug. 19, 2025. After a store employee showed the agent the store’s selection of nitrous oxide tanks, he and another store employee began giving the agent various advice about how to use the tank.

The employee removed a 670-gram Exotic Whip nitrous oxide tank from a glass case, which he then walked to the front counter before advising the agent of the $43.84 purchase price. The agent provided the store employee with the $60 in cash and received $16.16 in change.

Based on the above information, authorities submitted the affidavit for a search warrant to be executed at the Collinsville Studio 420 as they believed probable cause existed for the search warrant.

The nitrous oxide possession charge against Yinger was initially sealed, as there was a “risk of flight from prosecution” if Yinger’s name had been made public prior to his arrest. The charge was unsealed on Sept. 22, 2025 following his arrest on Sept. 19, 2025; Yinger has since been granted pretrial release from custody.

All individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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