Pepper-Spray Attack Sends Dozen People to Hospitals

Three teenage boys, apparently upset because they were barred from a public swimming pool, cut loose with a can of pepper spray in a locker room Monday, inflicting burning eyes and sore throats on two adults and 14 children, authorities said.

The staff and users of the pool at the Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks Recreation Center “smelled an acrid odor and had an acute onset of minor respiratory distress,” said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

“They were coughing and complaining of a burning mouth and throat.”

Although no one was seriously hurt, 18 city firefighters and paramedics evacuated the Olympic-sized pool. The two adults and 10 of the children were treated for respiratory ailments at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Valley Presbyterian Hospital and North Hollywood Medical Center and then released, Humphrey said. Four of the children refused treatment.

LAPD Det. Joseph Aparicio said the three boys, ages 14 and 15, were refused entrance to the pool “because they were not in proper dress.” Aparicio declined to say whether the boys, who are known to frequent the popular park at 14201 Huston St., were wearing gang-related clothing.

Pool manager Adam Loo declined to comment on the incident.

Pepper spray, or Oleoresin capsicum, is a cayenne-pepper-based spray originally used by law enforcement officers to subdue suspects without seriously injuring them by causing temporary burning pain in the eyes, nose and throat. It was legalized for civilian use in 1994 and was designed not to inflict permanent or serious injuries on healthy adults.

Children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems--such as one girl at the park who suffers from asthma--react to the chemical irritant more strongly, Humphrey said.

If arrested, the three teens will likely face felony charges of discharging a caustic chemical, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $10,000 fine, Aparicio said.

“We’re running down everybody who hangs out in the park for the last year,” he said. “We’ll do everything in our power to put these people in jail.”