Alleged home intruder fires pepper spray at resident. But victim has a gun, which proves far more effective.



Los Angeles police said at least two suspects entered a home in the 11600 block of Addison Street in the neighborhood of Valley Village around 3 p.m. Monday.

Police said when the resident noticed the suspects inside his home, he grabbed a semi-automatic handgun.

The homeowner was not arrested and isn't facing any charges as of Tuesday, KTTV said.

One suspect confronted the resident and "dispersed pepper spray," police said.

Of course, one should never bring pepper spray to a gunfight.

Police said the resident fired several rounds, striking one suspect, and the wounded suspect remained at the scene until police and paramedics arrived. Police said the second suspect fled the location and entered a waiting vehicle.

The wounded suspect was taken to a local hospital and was in critical but stable condition, police said. KTTV-TV said the suspect was shot in the neck.

Police said the resident was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for minor injuries; KTTV said the homeowner and the suspects were involved in a scuffle.

Police said the suspect in custody has been identified as 35-year-old Chucks Chukwudi, who will be "booked for the appropriate criminal charges as the investigation continues and his medical condition allows."

Chukwudi has an extensive criminal record for burglary, robbery, and firearm possession, KTTV said, adding that he was recently on probation.

Police said North Hollywood detectives are working to identify all other suspects involved, and it's believed the suspects are connected with other burglaries in the North Hollywood community.

KTTV, citing sources, reported that the wife of the 56-year-old homeowner had left the house, and police believe the suspects — assuming the home was unoccupied — broke in through a sliding glass door.

"Yeah, crazy, middle of the afternoon," one neighbor told KTTV. "Not the time you would expect it, you know, curious how it all unfolded and came to be. I hope it all goes as it should for him. Somebody protecting their property doesn't always go that way, you know, especially more so here, I think, than other places."

The homeowner was not arrested and isn't facing any charges as of Tuesday, KTTV said.

Detectives want those with information that could lead to the identification of additional suspects to contact LAPD North Hollywood Detectives at 818-754-8410. During nonbusiness hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477) or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org. Tipsters may download the “P3 Tips” mobile application and select the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers as their local program.

Home invasion turns violent in San Fernando Valley youtu.be

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Texas National Guard pepper sprays 'migrants' trying to cut through fence at border: Reuters video



Reuters on Tuesday posted a video on X that it said shows the Texas National Guard pepper spraying migrants who were trying to cut through a fence at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The clip — recorded Monday at Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, which is across the border from El Paso — shows five people at a heavily barbed-wired fence, a couple of whom use wire cutters to clip it. But they soon make their way down a hill away from the fence once they see authorities arriving, after which the video says guard members use pepper spray to disperse the migrants.

"Let's have MORE of this!! Good job!!"

Commenters on the video seemed squarely behind the guard members' actions:

  • "Good," one user reacted.
  • "About time," another commenter said.
  • "Let's have MORE of this!! Good job!!" another user declared.
  • "Good stuff," another commenter stated.
  • "Let me get the headline for you correctly: a group of criminals were thwarted as they attempted to cut barbed wire and illegally enter the U.S.," another user quipped.
  • "Sad that our own federal government will not defend the border," another commenter noted. "Thank God for Texas!"
  • "Good best news ever," another user said. "The last time there was a riot; no more."
  • "So nice to see an elected official actually enforcing the laws of the land!" another commenter reacted. "GOOD GOING TEXAS!!!!!!!!"
  • "Where's the problem? If what the migrants were doing is legal, then they would not have run away," another user observed. "They were trying to damage US property just like someone who spray paints graffiti on something that they don't own!"
— (@)

Last week El Paso County Judge Ruben Morales dismissed riot participation charges against 211 illegal aliens caught on video in March rushing the southern border and shoving Texas National Guardsmen.

Morales said he was forced to drop the charges because the state failed to provide a transfer order to move the cases from district to county court and that his "hands [are] tied."

— (@)

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Home intruders bring pepper spray to a gunfight — after which armed homeowner crushes their threat, critically wounding at least one crook



A gun-toting homeowner critically wounded at least one burglar Thursday morning after the suspect and another man tried to enter a Parkland residence in western Washington state.

What are the details?

The pair tried to get into the home in the 14600 block of First Avenue South through a side window around 4 a.m., investigators with the Pierce County Sheriff's Department told KCPQ-TV.

The homeowner then confronted the suspected burglars, Sgt. Darren Moss told KCPQ.

One of the suspects deployed pepper spray, Moss added to the station, and the homeowner shot at least one of the suspects. Investigators don't know which came first — the pepper spray or the gunfire, KCPQ said.

The wounded 38-year-old suspect was taken to a hospital and was in critical condition, the station said, adding that deputies have not identified him.

The other suspect got away, KCPQ said, adding that it's unknown whether he was injured.

Both suspects face burglary and assault charges, the station said.

What happened to the homeowner?

Moss told KCPQ investigators believe the homeowner was protecting his family.

"We don't see enough — or enough of reason — to place the homeowner in custody," Moss added to the station. "It seems to be that it could be self-defense."

Investigators noted to KCPQ they believe the homeowner was randomly targeted.

'We're definitely moving'

Several neighbors said they heard the gunshots, the station said.

"We knew exactly what it was as soon as we heard it," Holly Petree, who lives just a few doors away, told KCPQ. "We jumped up and opened the curtains, and there was a man laying over there."

Image source: KCPQ-TV video screenshot

The station received video from neighbors showing one suspect on the ground as first responders treated him.

Petree — who's been living in her home with her husband and 3-year-old for just a few months — told KCPQ, "We're definitely moving."

"It's a scary neighborhood, honestly — even though ... the homes are beautiful, and I love it," she added to the station.

Anything else?

Moss told KCPQ that "residential burglaries are down 17%," so "to have these kind of encounters, with homeowners firing shots at burglars, is not very common — but is always very scary for the homeowners."

Woman pepper-sprays maskless mom and child over COVID-19 fears: Report



Authorities arrested a 32-year-old woman after she reportedly pepper-sprayed a woman and her child while the three rode in an elevator Monday, the Seattle Times reported.

The woman and her child, according to reports, were not wearing masks, which is said to have prompted the response from the 32-year-old suspect, who claims to be in a "high-risk category" for COVID-19-related illness.

What are the details?

Officers responded Monday afternoon to Pike Place Market for a report of assault, where they found the unnamed suspect, who was reportedly "pushing a stroller containing a bottle of bleach and carrying a can of pepper spray."

The suspect reportedly told police that she sprayed the victim out of COVID-19 fears.

KIRO-TV reported that the suspect — identified by KOMO-TV as Czarina Lee Slape — told investigators that the woman was "yelling at her" in the elevator, and so she took out the pepper spray and "accidentally" sprayed the woman and her child.

The King County Prosecutor's Office also reported that Slape insisted she was defending herself because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Newsweek report, authorities were able to arrest Slape and take her into custody without incident. She was booked into King County Jail on felony charges of assault and assault of a child and is being held on a $1,000 bond.

Seattle Fire Department first responders treated the adult and child victims at the scene.

The adult victim told authorities that she and her child were riding in an elevator with the woman when the suspect reportedly began swearing to herself.

When she asked Slape if everything was OK, the suspect then reportedly told the victim, "If you talk to me again I'm going to mace you."

KOMO reported that the victim reportedly responded by telling Slape that she and her son would have to pass Slape to get off the elevator, which reportedly prompted Slape to pull out a can of pepper spray and fire it at the victims.

The mother, according to the station, admitted to hitting Slape following the attack before the suspect fled from the elevator.

Casey McNerthy, a spokesperson for the King County Prosecutor's Office, told the station, "We understand that people are concerned about the [Delta] variant, but you can't attack people who aren't wearing a mask."

The station reported that Slape has an "extensive criminal history," including at least 21 other arrests ranging from disorderly conduct to theft.

Female thugs knock down 78-year-old woman battling cancer — then pepper-spray and punch her before stealing her car



Angelina Bellissima — a 78-year-old who's battling cancer — had just parked her car on South Smedley Street in Philadelphia last week so she and her daughter could unload groceries, WPVI-TV reported.

But instead, Bellissima would endure a terrifying ordeal.

What happened?

Three women — who investigators say were "stalking" Bellissima — knocked her down, pepper-sprayed her in the face, punched her, grabbed her car keys, and took off in her vehicle, police said, adding that security cameras captured the attack as well as the suspects' getaway.

"I just felt like I was going to die," Bellissima told WPVI Wednesday, just hours after police released videos of the attack.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"I hear a scream, 'Help me, help me!" her daughter Angela Palumbo recalled to the station in an earlier story from the station about the attack, which noted that Bellissima said the suspects asked her for a ride and then came at her when she said no.

"I just feel them come back, like hit me from the back, and I feel this pepper spray in my face," she added to the station. "They threw me to the ground, punched me in the face. They grabbed the keys out of my hand, and I heard them saying, 'Open the doors, open the doors.'"

Palumbo added to WPVI: "When I saw my mom in a ball crying with her face full of pepper spray, I just lost it. For somebody to come along and just hurt her like that, there's no pain, there's no pain like that."

Here's video police released of the attack:

Robbery 27XX S Smedley St DC 21 01 001541 youtu.be

It gets worse

Bellissima also suffered a stress heart attack and just regained sight in her left eye, the station said.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"I'm scared to death to go out because they're not caught yet, I really am," she added to WPVI. "Usually I'm pretty strong. Let me tell you, I'm fighting cancer, but this time I'm scared because I know they're still out there."

Carjackings have been skyrocketing in the Philadelphia area, and the perpetrators are getting more brazen, the station said.

"They need to pay for what they did to her because she doesn't deserve this," Palumbo told WPVI. "She just got done cancer radiation, five surgeries — and now this."

Elderly woman recounts brazen carjacking: 'I just felt like I was going to die'youtu.be

Rochester Police Handcuff And Pepper-Spray 9-Year-Old Girl, Police Body-Camera Shows

The Rochester Police released body-cam footage showing a 9-year-old girl being handcuffed and pepper-sprayed by officers responding to "family trouble."

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler pepper-sprays man who confronted him at pub: 'He was right in my face' and 'he was not wearing a face mask'



Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) told police that he pepper-sprayed a man Sunday night outside a pub, claiming he feared for his own "personal safety" as the unnamed subject allegedly confronted the mayor and accused him of "sitting in a restaurant without a mask."

What are the details?

According to a police report published by KOIN-TV, Wheeler says he was seated in a tent outside McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery & Public House with former Portland Mayor Sam Adams (D), and as the pair attempted to leave, a middle-aged white man approached Wheeler.

The unknown man "appeared to be videoing with a cellphone," Wheeler told officers, and accused the current mayor of "sitting in a restaurant without a mask." Wheeler said that he explained to the man that people are allowed to sit in restaurants without a mask when they are eating and drinking.

OPB reported that in Multnomah County, where the pub is located, "outdoor dining is allowed as long as restaurants operate below capacity."

The man, undeterred, then allegedly followed Wheeler to his vehicle while continuing to video the mayor.

Wheeler told police, "I became imminently concerned for my personal safety, as I had recently been physically accosted in a similar situation. In addition, I was concerned about contracting Covid given that he was right in my face that he was not wearing a face mask."

He recalled warning the man that he had pepper spray and threatened to "use it if he did not back off."

After the man allegedly refused to "back off," Wheeler said he sprayed the man in the eyes. Before driving away, the mayor says he "threw a full water bottle toward" the man "so that he could wash out his eyes with water."

Both Wheeler and Adams told police that they did not recognize the man.

A spokesman for Wheeler acknowledged the incident, telling The Oregonian, "The mayor is cooperating with the police investigation and encourages others involved to do the same."

Anything else?

Earlier this month, Wheeler was screamed at and even physically assaulted by a group of thugs while dining outdoors at a different Portland eatery.

A spokesman for the mayor's office told The Oregonian at the time, ""Given the tenor of political discourse nationally and locally, it's not unusual for people to confront the mayor and other elected officials in public. It's part of the job."

He added, "The mayor will continue to support local restaurants and businesses as often as he can. He urges others to do the same."

GABRIELLA AUDI/AFP via Getty Images

Amid rioting and violence, Philly City Council actually passes ban on cops using tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets



In the middle of week marked by rioting, looting, and violence, Philadelphia City Council on Thursday passed a ban on police using non-lethal munitions such as tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets on protesters and demonstrators.

What are the details?

The legislation is in reaction to incidents between officers and protesters following the death of George Floyd earlier this year, WPVI-TV reported, and was approved by the council's public safety committee last week.

Of course, the rioting that's gripped the city this week stems from police fatally shooting Walter Wallace Jr., a black man who approached officers while reportedly armed with a knife.

Content warning: Language:

Philadelphia Police Are Outnumbered By Hundreds Of Rioters.youtu.be

At the Philadelphia BLM riot, a cop got hit or run over by a speeding vehicle. https://t.co/S12XuEoNAi
— Andy Ngô (@Andy Ngô)1603774843.0

Still, councilmembers praised their ban.

"The ban passes at a time of demonstrations and unrest after the police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., and days before an election where demonstrations are expected regardless of the result," council said in a press release, WPVI noted.

Councilmember Helen Gym said such a ban would help reestablish trust between the public and law enforcement, the station said: "Residential neighborhoods are not war zones. Demonstrators are not enemy combatants."

Content warning: Language:

Police run away and retreat from a mob of BLM rioters in Philadelphia. https://t.co/mcRONzebDl
— Andy Ngô (@Andy Ngô)1603779761.0

"This is a first step in working with our communities to build a new model for public safety that is driven by their needs and their vision for the future," Gym also stated in the release, WPVI noted.

City Council said Philadelphia would be the largest American city to enact such a ban. The station said it's awaiting word from Mayor Jim Kenney's office to see if he'll sign the bill.

Pushback

Roosevelt Poplar, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told WPVI the whole point of "less than lethal" force for crowd control is to keep the public as safe as possible during potentially dangerous situations.

"So, basically, you're taking away non-lethal munitions, and you're leaving them with only one tool, and that's a deadly weapon tool, which is a gun," Poplar added to the station.

Anything else?

One of the first questions following Wallace's fatal shooting is why the involved officers didn't use tasers — and Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said the two officers who shot Wallace weren't carrying tasers — and many other officers don't carry them, either.

Complicating issues between cops on the ground and their superiors was a tweet from WTXF-TV reporter Steve Keeley that officers were "extremely frustrated" after Deputy Police Commissioner Melvin Singleton allegedly ordered both patrol and commanding officers to "not arrest looters just disperse them."

"By the order of CAR-2, Philadelphia Police will respond to 'priority' calls only," the alleged directive from the department obtained by Keeley said. "This means no calls for disturbance, missing person, stolen vehicle, burglary or theft will be answered."

Keeley added that some officers believe the order "leaves no deterrent to stop looting."

At least 30 officers hurt in Philadelphia riots after police kill Black manyoutu.be

Remember the little boy who got pepper-sprayed at an anti-police protest while with his dad? Watchdog group finds incident wasn't intentional.



You may recall a viral video just as George Floyd protests heated up of a child screaming and crying in the middle of a street as adults douse his face with milk to lessen the sting of pepper spray.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Some people deemed it outrageous that cops would do such a thing to a kid, while others wondered what the boy's father was doing with his child at the May 30 anti-police protest in Seattle.

Well, last week the city's Office of Police Accountability — a citizen-led watchdog group — ruled that officers didn't violate rules when the boy was inadvertently hit with pepper spray, KOMO-TV reported.

What are the details?

"OPA's review of bystander and body-worn video found that the boy was not individually targeted," the report states, according to the station. "He and his father moved towards a protester who had grabbed an officer's baton and was pushing into the police line. An SPD supervisor used pepper spray to move the protester back. In response, the protester ducked, causing the pepper spray to inadvertently affect the boy and his father."

OPA director Andrew Myerberg defended the board's ruling to KOMO: "It's clearly a directed spray toward someone who is breaking a line, and that force was appropriate for that person."

The report added that "while the impact to the boy was an unfortunate result, he was not visible on the video at the time of the pepper spraying and therefore could not have been seen by the supervisor," the station also said.

What did Dad have to say?

During the protest, video shows the boy's father standing with his son just behind a line of protesters and hollering at police: "Look at his bitch ass!" he yells at one point. Then — balling up his fist — he yells at a cop, "He's ready to swing somethin' — his d**k ain't that big, but that's why [unintelligible] my black ass!"

Image source: YouTube screenshot

After the boy was hit with pepper spray, his father confronted police: "Hey, you're a bitch! You just sprayed my 8-year-old son, you whore-ass motherf***er! F*** you!"

Image source: YouTube screenshot

At a press conference over the incident, Mondo Avery seemed a tad more reserved in front of a camera and said in reference to his son, "I felt like I failed him because I couldn't protect him."

Image source: KIRO-TV video screenshot

Here's a statement submitted to KIRO-TV on behalf of the boy's family in response the the watchdog group's finding:

We are deeply disappointed, but not surprised, by the result reached by the OPA. Today, they have confirmed that it is the Seattle Police Department's position that the use of pepper spray in an intentional and reckless manner that it would strike an innocent child exercising their First Amendment rights is "within policy." We understand the OPA has said it is "sorry" for these actions. But "sorry" and "regret" is not sufficient. We demand change. OPA did not address ... whether the officers could have [taken] steps to prevent this from happening and, even further, no police officers attempted to render aid to the child, making any apology tough to accept. Moreover, the OPA reached its conclusions by analysis and discussion of body camera footage — tapes that were not provided to the family or their legal counsel before today. The [OPA] also refuses to identify the officers who used force in this incident. All of this undermines the claims of objectivity and transparency that the City purports to value. We continue to demand change, and this confirms that it is still deeply needed because the City of Seattle continues to remain indifferent to the suffering its police, and other City officials, have caused to black and indigenous people of color for decades, including the Avery family.

The following is a compilation video from the Office of Police Accountability showing various clips from the May 30 protest. (Content warning: Language):

Child Pepper Spray Investigation Video Compilationyoutu.be

(H/T: The Police Tribune)