East Lansing Police say officer was attacked with bear spray

An East Lansing Police Department officer on foot was sprayed with bear spray by a passenger in a passing vehicle, according to a statement from the police department on Monday.

The statement says other officers witnessed the attack in the early morning hours of Sept. 13 and that officers had previously been alerted to reports of a similar-looking vehicle being used to spray chemical spray against others in downtown East Lansing.

The vehicle was stopped by police and three people under 18 were taken into custody while parents/guardians were contacted. The youth accused of spraying the officer was transferred to a youth detention center, according to police.

Police found a stun gun, several canisters of pepper spray and a half-empty bottle of bear/mountain lion spray, believed to be used to spray the officer, according to police.

The City of East Lansing has a curfew ordinance that decrees no person under 18 years of age shall be upon or in any public street, highway, alley, park, plaza, public or private parking facility, or vacant lot or other public place between midnight and 6 a.m., and no minor under the age of 12 should be in any of those places between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.