Audio clip
Bruce Garner
Two floors of the Hamilton County Jail were evacuated about noon Friday after an item taken from a box sprayed two sheriff’s deputies in the face.
The item later was determined to be a pepper spray device, said Chattanooga Fire Department spokesman Bruce Garner, but jail officials called 911 when the sprayed substance could not immediately be identified, thinking it may have been an explosive.
Two deputies in the booking area opened a box in which knives and small personal items usually collected from inmates are placed daily, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Max Templeton said at the scene. One officer picked up the item, causing it to spray a substance into the air.
The fire department, police department and Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services personnel responded to the jail while the first floor and level B-1 were evacuated. A hazardous materials team and the Chattanooga Police Department bomb squad were called to analyze the substance.
The deputies, who complained of eye irritation and difficulty breathing, were taken to Erlanger hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Sgt. Templeton said.
Employees were allowed back into the jail about 1 p.m. Inmates in the jail never were at risk, Sgt. Templeton said.
The pepper spray was not in a typical container, he said.
“This does not appear to be a device meant to hurt anyone,” Sgt. Templeton said.
