A man was taken into custody after police said he sprayed a can of bear mace inside a homeless shelter in Washington, according to KOMO.
Officers responded to the Noah's Ark homeless shelter in Wapato Monday night (July 12). They got reports claiming several people were sprayed with a painful substance at the location. When police arrived, they reportedly found people outside the building coughing and splashing their faces with water from a hose.
Witnesses claimed a man previously banned from the shelter entered the building and sprayed multiple people with bear mace. Police reviewed video footage that showed the suspect walking into Noah's Ark, armed with the mace and arguing with a man.
"The video shows the suspect then walk up to the intended victim and spray him directly in the face with the bear mace and then follow him as the man retreated, spraying him three more times, police say," reporters wrote.
Eight other people in the room were exposed to the bear mace since it began to fog up the area, according to authorities. Officers said they later arrested the suspect, who had a can of bear mace nearby. He denied the incident, and police couldn't interview the intended victim due to his injuries.
Eight other people were in the same area and police say they also were exposed to the bear mace as it began to fog up the entire room.
The suspect was taken into custody on suspicion of second-degree assault and criminal trespass.