Authorities say a woman used pepper spray to defend herself against a man who allegedly attacked her outside her Salisbury home.

At around 12:23 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 8, Salisbury police officers responded to the 700 block of Roger Street where they met with a woman who stated she had been attacked from behind in her driveway by a male suspect wearing a black hooded jacket and blue jeans. According to police, the victim stated that she sprayed her attacker with pepper spray that she keeps for personal defense.

Investigators said the information the victim provided was relayed to responding units and officers and K-9 “Miso” searched the neighborhood. According to police, a suspect was located on the 300 block of Prince Street, a short distance from where the assault is allegedly occurred.

Police said the suspect, later identified as 19-year-old Brian Stewart Harcum Jr. of Salisbury, was wearing clothing matching the description of the woman’s attacker. Police also noted that Harcum had tears in his eyes and mucus coming from his nose, which is indicative of the effects of pepper spray.

Harcum was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree assault, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. He is being held in the Wicomico County Detention Center in lieu of $25,000 bond.

The victim was not injured in the assault, police said.

Good for this woman taking the responsibility to defend herself and not depending on others, including police.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Police are on the lookout for a man who walked into a local Dotty’s, implied he had a gun in his jacket and tried to rob the place but was thwarted by a clerk who wasn’t about to back down.

The crime happened around 1:30 a.m. on July 10 at the Dotty’s at 2705 N.E. 238th Drive in Troutdale.

According to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, the clerk in the store punched the suspect and pepper sprayed him as he ran to his vehicle. The man fled the scene in a white 1990s Ford Explorer with a rear license plate that was obscured and unreadable.

The suspect is described as a white male with a possible beard or full goatee. He is about 5 feet, 6 inches to 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds.

You are absolutely 100% right Michael. I couldn’t agree more or say it better myself.

I actually had a discussion about the legality of pepper spray n stun guns with a shop owner here in NC. While I was informing him that it was legal and while he kept asking for proof, there was a lady outside the store at one of the gas pumps screaming. I turned to look and saw a guy that this woman didn’t seem to know manhandling her at the sleeve.

I thought to myself,”Well, I guess we will find out if these things are legal or not because this lady needs some help!” Of course there was no police in sight. There were other people standing at other gas pumps and they were not inclined to help. So I grabbed one of my keychain pepper sprays and sprung into action.

I think I might’ve actually told the shop owner that we would find out if my products were legal or not because I was “fixing” to use it (people in the country just love that word!). The attacker never saw me coming. By the time he finally snatched her purse from around her shoulder and turned to run, I was standing right there and sprayed a nice dose of pepper spray directly in his face.

What happened next I’ll never forget. The attacker froze and glared at me with a look I cannot describe as anything but total shock himself and I thought to myself, “Oh boy, you did it now, Jon! You’re gonna have to knock this guy out with something stronger than this pepper spray!!!” But as soon as I thought this and took my stance to defend myself, the attacker held his hands to his face and screamed like a little girl, “Why did you do that??!!! It hurts!!!”

The attacker fell to the ground in the fetal position. When the cops arrived, they looked at my pepper spray, read its contents, and informed the shop owner that not only was it legal…but it was the same spray that had been issued to their department and was found to be the most effective way to stop a fight before a fight actually occurred.

The shop owner didn’t hesitate. He purchased all the pepper spray I had with me!!! But it proved to me that sometimes it doesn’t matter what the law says. You have the god given right to protect yourself or someone in trouble anytime and anywhere no matter what!!! Nobody can tell me different because I know what’s right.

A 20-year-old Madison woman who was grabbed and being dragged to an alley Tuesday afternoon got out of the suspect’s grasp by spraying him in the face with pepper spray, Madison police reported.

The woman didn’t report the attack until the next day, fearing she’d get in trouble for having pepper spray.

Not so.

“In Madison, it is legal to possess pepper spray and use it in self-defense,” said Madison Police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

The incident happened around 1:30 p.m. Monday on State Street near Lake Street.

“A disheveled man grabbed her by the wrist and tried to pull her into an alley,” DeSpain said. “After she sprayed him in the face, he let go of her arm, put his hands to his face and bellowed out a swear word.”

“The investigating officer told her this was a serious incident that needed to be reported immediately so police might have a better chance of arresting a suspect,” DeSpain said.

A hiker in Teton Canyon used pepper spray to fended off a reported grizzly bear Sunday, Wyoming Game and Fish officials said Thursday.

Former Colorado resident Chris Laing was hiking about a mile up the north fork of the Teton Creek Trail, the trail that goes to Table Mountain, when “he contacted a reported grizzly bear sow with two cubs of the year,” Wyoming Game and Fish Specialist Mike Boyce said.

The bear was apparently chasing Laing’s dog when it veered off and headed for Laing.

The bear charged three times before being deterred by the spray.

“The bear got as close as five feet,” Boyce said. “He sprayed the bear with bear spray on all three charges and was able to get out of there uninjured.”

Boyce said he thought the man’s dog was a factor in provoking this bear.

“The bear was just … defending her cubs,” he said.

An investigation of the incident couldn’t confirm the type of bear because of poor tracking conditions, but “the behavior that this bear displayed was confident with aggressive, defensive grizzly bear behavior,” Boyce said.

The Forest Service has since posted warning signs on the trail, but the trail is not closed.

The bear and her cubs were behaving naturally and will not be captured or killed, Boyce said.

“We’re just planning on closely monitoring the situation up there,” he said.

Boyce recommends hiking with at least one other person, making plenty of noise, keeping dogs under control and carrying a defense such as bear spray and knowing how to use it.

“That’s one thing Chris did very well,” Boyce said. “[Bear spray] was effective in this incident. He was able to get out of there without injury.”

Spray makes use of a natural irritant that can be found in hot peppers. The chemical Oleoresin Capsicum, known as OC, is the chemical ingredient that makes habanero peppers hot. As anyone who has eaten a habanero knows, it can cause eye irritation and irritation in the mouth, throat and nose. This effect is compounded by spray, which uses a higher amount of this chemical than is found in the habanero pepper.

While the exact amount of oleoresin capsicum varies in different brands and models of pepper spray, a typical percentage of OC in spray has about 15 times the amount of OC as in a pepper. When this percentage is sprayed on the face of a potential assailant, the effects can be eyes that become swollen shut and they have an irritated nose and throat. The irritation to the eyes often causes the assailant’s eyes to produce tears, making it difficult to see even if the eyelids do not become swollen.

The point of spray is to cause only temporary blindness or a temporary difficulty in seeing in order to allow the victim a chance to get away from the assailant. Like eating a hot pepper, the effects of pepper spray are temporary, leaving lasting effects behind only in very rare cases. It is one of the safer personal protection devices because the effects are so temporary.

The active ingredient in spray is added to inactive ingredients to make the pepper spray strong enough to cause temporary damage without being concentrated enough to permanently damage the eyes. This mixture of active and inactive ingredients is packaged into a cylinder that keeps the content under pressure. This pressure allows the contents to be sprayed out with force, much like a can of aerosol hairspray.

Spray is made in a variety of sizes for different needs. Some people want the smallest version of pepper spray possible so that they can keep the spray concealed from view in their hand or in their pocket. This allows them to stay protected without looking aggressive. Other people want a large container so that they can show that they have spray in order to avoid having to use it. This can scare assailants away before a confrontation becomes necessary.

Some people only want convenience and chose their pepper spray in a form that will be the easiest to locate and use. This includes key rings or backpack clips that keep the pepper spray close at hand. Some pepper sprays come with designer cases, others are plain and simple. There are even various colors of pepper spray canisters on the market. There are enough sizes, shapes and designs of pepper spray on the market that anyone can find one that will meet their needs.

In the small pepper spray category, there are many ingenious designs on the market. One of the latest designs is a pepper spray canister that looks exactly like a lipstick tube form the outside. This allows a woman to retrieve something from her purse easily, not letting her potential assailant know that she is reaching for a self-defense weapon. Other small pepper sprays are shaped to look like fountain pens. These can be carried in the pocket and even taken to work without anyone realizing that they are there for self-defense.

Other small canisters are shaped to fit into the hand or to slip easily into a pocket. These may be no more than four inches in length, carrying enough spray for a few seconds of use.

Some pepper spray units are made to fit into specific places. These include key ring pepper sprays that come with a ring clip. There are also pepper sprays that have a visor clip attached to keep them close at hand in the car. These sprays can give a driver peace of mind when they are out running errands or when they have a long commute.

Many smaller pepper sprays come with cases that come in a variety of colors and designs. Some women prefer to have a black case that will look more intimidating. Others want to have a case that is their favorite color or a color that will match their purse or their other key rings. All of these options are available in pepper spray covers. The colors and designs come in leather, faux leather and vinyl coverings.

The larger pepper spray varieties also come in a number of shapes, sizes and colors. Many of the largest pepper sprays are in an intimidating black and may have a larger black case around them. These are often made and carried in order to ward off any trouble by showing the weapon to the potential attacker.

Some of the larger pepper sprays have a bright red top or are entirely bright red as a warning color. This can be an effective way of telling an attacker that what the potential victim has in her hand is dangerous.

Larger pepper sprays may have a belt loop hook to allow them to be hung from the belt loops in order to keep the spray close at hand. This is often an option chosen by joggers who want to carry protection with them but who also need to keep their hands free. This is also an option for students who have books to carry but don‘t want to be caught unprotected in a parking lot.

Since the turn of the century, there have been over 90,000 forcible rapes every year. I don’t know about you, but that is a terrifying statistic to me. Women need to be able to defend themselves because a single rape is one too many. With pepper spray, a woman can defend herself from an attacker, completely immobilize him and make her escape. That’s the beauty of pepper spray.

Pepper spray works wonderfully as a self-defense weapon. The pepper extract that is in the spray causes temporary blindness for at least thirty to forty-five minutes. On top of the temporary blindness, the recipient of the spray will experience a runny nose, coughing and respiratory constriction. This kind of immobilization not only aids the potential victim in their escape, but it can also help the police find the assailant. After all, if they can’t see to get away, they won’t get very far from the crime scene.

Though pepper spray is a wonderful self-defense tool, how many people out there actually carry pepper spray? In fact, how many people are even thinking about self-defense throughout the day? Sadly, people don’t usually think about it until it is too late. What’s worse is when people do think about it, know that they should prepare themselves for such an occasion, but then never follow through because the opportunity to do so isn’t right in front of them. This is where you come in.

In order for more people to be better prepared, they need to have the opportunity to prepare themselves placed in front of them. You can be the one to do this. How? By finding a wholesale drop shipper that deals primarily with nonlethal self-defense products, and then by presenting those products to the customer. Because pepper spray is such a high impulse item, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep some in stock. You don’t have to have the product in stock, but if you do, all the better– if only for the sake of better customer service. That is one of the great things about working with a wholesale drop shipper. You can just take the customer’s order and pass it right along.

There is a lot of money to be made by selling pepper spray to people, not to mention how helpful it is. For every sale you make, you get to keep the difference between the wholesale price and the retail price that the customer pays. But you don’t have to just sell to individuals. You can expand your customers to include gun shops, pawn shops, and flea markets.

As I said, there are many uses for spray. One use is claimed by law enforcement agencies that utilize pepper spray for crowd control purposes. While it is a very effective device for this task, it has come under a lot of scrutiny is some places because there have been some deaths that may be connected to the use of spray.

Another use for pepper spray is for warding off vicious animals like dogs and bears. Some hikers take some with them just in case they happen to come across an angry bear. Who could blame them?

Yet another use for spray is for personal self defense. Pepper spray is a powerful weapon that can literally mean the difference between life and death. Even if the matter isn’t life or death, spray can definitely mean the difference between being assaulted or not. There have been countless crimes stopped because of spray.

When someone is sprayed, they will not enjoy the experience. They will suffer from constricted breathing, a runny nose, and severe coughing. Where the pepper spray has touched the skin, it will cause an intense burning sensation. If spray gets in the eyes, temporary blindness can last thirty to forty-five minutes along with all of the other side effects caused by this handy little chemical.

The laws vary all across the world. In some countries it is illegal to have it at all unless you are a police officer. In other countries, like America, it is only regulated in certain parts of the country. Canada has a unique law that allows for spray meant to be used against unruly animals, but not for use against humans. Using animal pepper spray on a human gets into some pretty shady ground in Canada.

Yes, there is a lot of controversy over pepper spray in some parts of the world. But a clear fact remains. It works. It can effectively stop a criminal from mugging or raping someone. I know that if it could save me from being harmed or murdered, I would definitely own some pepper spray. In fact, I do.

But as I said, there is another use for spray that I don’t think you have heard of.

Did you know that you can actually use spray to make money? It is true. You can sell pepper spray to people who need it. Not only would you be making money but you would also be helping people defend themselves in a world that is full of crime.

Of course, if you are thinking about selling this wonderful self defense product, or even if you are just thinking about getting yourself some, check the local laws on pepper spray.

A “one-man crime spree” was halted by a 77-year-old woman with a can of pepper spray, Jacksonville police said Wednesday.

Torre Sebastian Harris, 20, was arrested Tuesday about 5:30 p.m. shortly after a robbery at a Kangaroo Express store in the 8300 block of Baymeadows Road. Chief David Stevens of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said a man entered the store, pointed a gun in the clerk’s face and demanded money.

The contents of the cash register didn’t satisfy him, so he tried to snatch a customer’s purse, according to a police report. The victim, Gladys Gehrig, fought back and sprayed the thief with a container of pepper spray attached to her key chain.

“She got him good in the face,” Stevens said.

Police picked Harris up a short distance away.

Stevens said he was linked to six other robberies throughout January on the city’s Southside by witness identifications and surveillance footage.

Harris was charged with 14 felonies and held in lieu of bail.