Deputies: Adult Maced 10-Year-Old Girl, Now Facing Felony Charge

PARKLAND, WA— A 38-year-old man has been arrested, accused of chasing down and pepper-spraying a 10-year-old girl over the weekend.

According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, the incident started Sunday afternoon, in an apartment complex in the 2400 block of S. 96th St, Parkland.

Witnesses reported that the 10-year-old girl and a couple of friends had been tossing rocks outside the apartment building, when one rock hit an apartment door.

After the rock hit, deputies say the man stepped outside the apartment, and chased after the children, eventually catching up to the girl and yelling at her while she was cornered against a fence. Witnesses told deputies that the girl tried to escape, but the man chased her again and then pepper-sprayed her in the face, before turning back and walking home to his apartment.

Following their investigation, the Pierce County Sheriff's Department arrested the 38-year-old man. He has been booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of 2nd degree assault — a class B felony.

As for the victim, deputies say she didn't need medical care, but was clearly suffering from being pepper-sprayed for more than an hour after the attack.