Woman faces charges for pepper spray assault

By DAN KEGLEY/Staff

A Marion woman was arrested and charged Wednesday in connection with an incident that left a toddler and an adult with injuries caused by pepper spray.
Angela Whitaker, 26, of Holston View apartments, faces two counts of felony assault with a caustic substance, two counts of assault and battery, and one count each of destruction of property and trespassing, Smyth County Sheriff’s deputy Tony McCormick said Thursday.
The felony charges resulted from the pepper spray causing inflammatory injuries in the 18-month-old child and an adult. Pepper spray landed on two other people, prompting the pair of misdemeanor assault and battery charges, McCormick said.
McCormick said accounts of the Monday incident conflicted, but apparently the pepper spray entered through the partially opened front door, impacting most significantly the adult and toddler standing there. He administered first aid to both individuals.
The incident occurred Monday afternoon at a Cherokee Lane home and followed an altercation between Whitaker and a resident there the previous night, McCormick said. No charges were filed in that incident, he said.
“She went back to get a bat she left there,” McCormick said.
Whittaker was in Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Thursday on a $5,000 secured bond, McCormick said. She was “very cooperative” during her arrest, he said.