Families hit by pepper spray file complaint

ANNE JUNGEN
La Crosse Tribune
Jul. 25, 2006

HIXTON, Wis. — Three Hixton families have filed a complaint with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department against a deputy, claiming that he pepper sprayed four kids and two adults riding on a float during an Independence Day parade.

About 20 people, most of them 6 through 8-year-old children, were riding on a rookie-ball float about 10:30 a.m. and spraying parade-goers with squirt guns, said Leeann Wathen, 39, who is one of the family members who filed the complaint.

Her 14-year-old daughter was on the float holding a cup filled with water that the children were using to fill their water guns. Wathen said the sheriff’s deputy said to her daughter jokingly, “Don’t you dare throw it at me” and pulled out his pepper spray.

Wathen said her daughter did throw the cup of water at him, showering his stomach with water.

The deputy then, according to Wathen, shot his pepper spray at her. The girl turned her back, but the pepper spray hit 6-, 7- and 15-year-old boys and two adults in the face, she said.

“Everyone that I’ve talked to is really peeved and hope he loses his job,” Wathen said.

Those hit with the pepper spray did not seek medical attention, Wathen said.

In a written statement, Jackson County Sheriff Richard Young declined to comment on the incident “to preserve the integrity of the investigative process and to respect the rights of all involved.”

“Any investigation will only become public record once the investigation reaches a conclusion and further detailed comment may be made at that time,” Young said.

The sheriff did not know when the investigation would be completed.

Wathen said a La Crosse County Sheriff’s Department sergeant questioned her about the incident Friday morning. Young would not confirm whether the La Crosse sheriff’s department was conducting an investigation into the incident.