Juneau police have not determined a motive for a home invasion early Saturday morning in Douglas that left a resident pepper sprayed.
Around 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, two men forcibly broke into a home of a 52-year-old man on the 2200 block of Raven Road and pepper sprayed him in the face, according to the Juneau Police Department.
The victim retreated to a bedroom inside the home and tried locking the door. The male suspects attempted to force their way into the bedroom and managed to open the bedroom door wide enough to continue pepper spraying the victim.
The whole incident lasted “probably less than a minute,” JPD Lt. Kris Sell said on the phone Monday. “It was very quick.”
The victim fled to a neighbor’s residence for help and the two suspects fled the area before police arrived and were not located. Sell said she doesn’t know if they fled by foot or vehicle.
Both JPD and Capital City Fire/Rescue responded to the incident. The victim of the assault received medical treatment at the scene and was later taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital for further evaluation and treatment.
Sell didn’t know the current condition of the victim but said, “pepper spray typically does not have long-term consequences.”
Sell said police don’t know why the men broke into the home.
“The resident wasn’t able to tell us about anything being taken. Of course, having been doused in spray myself, I know you’re very distracted at that point. So we don’t know for certain that nothing was taken, but we don’t believe anything was taken,” she said.
The male suspects were described as being between 5’ 8” to 6’ tall, with medium builds, wearing blue hooded jackets or sweatshirts.
Sell said the investigation is ongoing and anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact JPD, 586-0600, or Juneau Crime Line.
“We’re very interested in talking to anyone that has information about this. Even if they hear someone talking about having been involved, we’d like to hear from them,” Sell said.
• Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 523-2246 or lisa.phu@juneaupolice.com.
