Morro Bay Police arrested a homeless man after he allegedly perpetrated a tear gas attack at a local fitness center.
According to MBPD Ofc. Gene Stuart, police were called at 7:48 a.m. to Fitness Works, located in a shopping center at 500 Quintana Rd., “regarding a report of an unknown alarm causing management to evacuate the building,” reads a news release. “The reporting party stated that gym staff and over 30 members began coughing extensively for unknown reasons.”
The Fire Department also responded and searched the building for the cause — looking for “unknown substances, or electrical issues with the H-VAC system,” Stuart’s report said. “MBFD personnel did not find anything out of the ordinary and cleared the building to continue business,” Stuart added.
Police reviewed the gym’s security video and found the likely culprit. “Video surveillance was reviewed due to an incident involving a transient and a staff member,” Stuart said. The video reportedly showed the man, “dispersing pepper spray into the main entrance of Fitness Works,” Stuart’s report said, “before fleeing on his bicycle.”
Police caught up to the suspect sometime later and he was arrested without a fight. Police took Brent Edward Peterson, 52, described as a transient from Paso Robles to County Jail on a felony charge for alleged Illegal use of tear gas as a weapon (Penal Code 22810 (G)(1)) and his bail was set at $20,000.
Though pepper spray, tear gas and other non-lethal means of self-defense are legal to use, it has to truly be in self-defense situations and not because one got angry at someone, nor as an offensive weapon in an assault.
