East Lansing Police Officer assualted with bear spray

EAST LANSING, MI — The City of East Lansing says in the early morning hours of Sunday, Sept. 13, an officer with the ELPD was on foot patrol in downtown East Lansing when he was assaulted with bear spray by a passenger in a passing vehicle. 

According to a press release, officers in the area had previously been alerted to reports of passengers in a vehicle using a chemical spray against other people in the downtown area, according to a press release. Using bear spray to attack someone is a criminal offense in the State of Michigan.

 

The officers observed the suspect vehicle, caught up to it and initiated a felony stop. Upon pulling over the suspect vehicle and searching it, officers found a stun gun, several canisters of pepper spray and a half-empty canister of bear and mountain lion spray believed to have been used in the attack on the police officer.

 

The three people in the vehicle were all under the age of 18. They were taken into custody while a parent or guardian was contacted, according to the press release. The suspect who is believed to have assaulted the officer was transferred to a youth detention center.