Clarion Residents Involved in Pepper Spray Incident Due in Court Today

Aly Delp

Aly Delp

Published June 23, 2020 4:26 am
Image

CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Two Clarion Borough residents are facing hearings today on charges related to a conflict involving pepper spray.

Court documents indicate 20-year-old Mackenzie Renay Elder and 22-year-old David A. Fouse are scheduled to stand for hearings in front of Magisterial District Judge Duane L. Quinn at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 23.

Elder faces the following charges:

– Simple Assault, Misdemeanor 2
– Harassment — Subject Other to Physical Contact, Summary (three counts)

Fouse faces the following charges:

– Simple Assault, Misdemeanor 2
– Harassment — Subject Other to Physical Contact, Summary

The charges stem from an incident that occurred in Clarion in early March.

Details of the case:

On March 1, Clarion Borough Police were dispatched to a residence on South 6th Avenue regarding a pepper spray incident, according to a criminal complaint filed on March 17 by Officer Scheckler.

Police spoke to a known male victim at the scene who reported that a downstairs neighbor, later identified as Mackenzie Elder, had pepper-sprayed him and two other men.

Officers then spoke to Elder.

According to the complaint, Elder and a known woman reported the upstairs neighbors were “stomping on the floor” and disturbing the known woman’s newborn child. The known woman then went upstairs and asked the neighbors to be quieter, but the neighbors continued to stomp and also began “yodeling.”

There were text messages sent back and forth between Elder and one of the known men upstairs, and eventually, Elder and the known woman went to the upstairs apartment to confront the men, the complaint notes.

David Fouse opened the door and sprayed some kind of aerosol (possibly Febreze) at the woman, according to the complaint.

Elder then reportedly pepper-sprayed Fouses’s eyes, causing immediate discomfort. The two other men upstairs were also overcome by the pepper spray fumes, according to the complaint.

Elder turned the pepper spray over to the police after being questioned.

When questioned regarding the incident, Fouse reported the women were kicking the door in an attempt to enter, and then sprayed him in the eyes when he opened the door. He told police both he and another man “retaliated” with a Febreze aerosol spray. However, he later reportedly changed his story and said the other man didn’t spray anything but did ask him to open the door and spray the women, according to the complaint.

Fouse and the other two men upstairs all received medical treatment and were released.

The charges were filed against Elder and Fouse through Magisterial District Judge Duane L. Quinn’s office on Tuesday, March 17.

Fouse is also facing a second hearing at 8:30 a.m. on June 23 on three second-degree misdemeanor counts of simple assault and three summary counts of harassment related to an incident in which he pepper-sprayed three men during another incident in Clarion Borough.

Recent Articles

Community Partner