Pepper spray clears parts of courthouse

An inadvertent release of pepper spray near the entrance of the McHenry County courthouse cleared parts of the building Monday morning and left many of those who remained inside coughing and teary-eyed.

The incident occurred about 10:30 a.m. after a courthouse security officer located what appeared to be a cigarette lighter in a planter outside the building's main entrance, McHenry County sheriff's Capt. David Shepherd said.

The officer, Shepherd said, brought the item inside and tested it to determine whether it was what it appeared to be. But instead of emitting a flame, the item shot a half-second burst of pepper spray into the air.

"It immediately was pulled into the ventilation system and spread from there into what we call the B wing of the building," Shepherd said.

The spray did not cause a formal evacuation of the building, but some departments allowed employees to step outside and dozens of potential jurors were guided out of a waiting room to a courtyard area.

The owner of the pepper-spray container was never found, Shepherd said. It is not unusual, he said, for courthouse visitors to stash prohibited items -- pocketknives or scissors, for example -- in planters outside the building when they learn they must pass through a security screening.

Shepherd said security officers will clear out the rest of the container and use it for training.

"It was designed to look like anything but a pepper-spray container," he said. "We want to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."