2 Arrested in Squirting of Insecticide on Driver’s Face

Two part-time employees of the state Department of Food and Agriculture were arrested Tuesday after allegedly pulling alongside a car and squirting insecticide into the driver’s face, the Burbank Police Department reported.

The men apparently had become angry at the woman’s driving, Sgt. Don Goldberg said.

The car’s driver, a 41-year-old Burbank resident whom police would not identify, was treated at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank for minor injuries and released after the 9:40 a.m. incident at Victory Boulevard and Brighton Street, Goldberg said. She complained of burning in her face and eyes, blurred vision and numbness on her mouth, Goldberg said.

The men were using the insecticide against Oriental fruit flies in Burbank and neighboring communities, said Gera Curry, a spokeswoman for the Food and Agriculture Department.

The substance is a mix of three chemicals designed to lure and kill male flies. It does not usually produce serious symptoms in humans but can be fatal if swallowed, said Dr. Paul Papanek, chief of the toxics epidemiology program of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

About 11 a.m., officers spotted a truck with lettering that matched the description given by the victim. They arrested Walter Rowland, 30, of Van Nuys, who has been employed by the department since Aug. 14, and Mario Jarquin, 18, of North Hollywood, who started work on July 26, authorities said. They were being held on suspicion of assault with a caustic chemical and were to be arraigned Thursday in Burbank Municipal Court, Goldberg said.

Goldberg said the woman identified the men after they were stopped.

She told investigators that the truck, driven by Jarquin, pulled up behind her car as she was waiting to turn left from Buena Vista Street onto Victory. The truck driver was tailgating in what seemed to be an effort to urge her into the intersection, Goldberg said. When she motioned for them to pull around her, they turned left into a lane of opposing traffic and drove alongside her car, which had also turned left and was approaching Brighton, he said.

Rowland then allegedly pointed the nozzle of the insecticide dispenser at the woman’s open window and squirted at her, Goldberg said. The woman told police they made an obscene gesture and laughed, he said.

The woman returned home and called the police, who advised her to seek medical treatment, he said.

“If it is as alleged, of course they will be discharged,” Curry said.