Man pepper sprayed over parking spot


A Columbia City man says he was pepper sprayed after asking a truck driver to leave the parking spot in front of his home.

The man, who asked that his name not be used over safety concerns, was driving home on Tuesday night when he noticed a truck blocking the alley to his apartment.

So he flashed his lights at that truck -- and, he says, that's when the trouble started.

"That's all we ask, don't block the alley!" the man said.

After the truck left the alley, the driver parked it right in front of his unit.

"I said you have to leave, you have to leave,” said the victim.

The truck pulled away and then a man got out.

"As he walks back down the alley he uses the f-word, and then he uses the n-word a few times, and in this day and age -- 2015 -- I'm not taking that, so I start walking towards him,” said the man.

Then the pepper spray came out.

"He was running away, and hit me full blast with the pepper spray, and from there to the house I was stumbling, screaming,” he said.

"That's more pain than I have ever felt in my eyes. I couldn't see. I was blinded,” he added.

The pain, he says, was excruciating.

What's as bad, if not worse, he says, are the words that man used.

"Racism does exist in Seattle, Washington, but when it hits, it feels weird,” the victim said.

About the Author