OLYMPIA — A woman in her 30s was detained by Lacey police Tuesday morning after she pepper-sprayed an Intercity Transit bus driver near Yelm Highway and College Street.
The woman, who was detained about 9 a.m., faces a simple assault charge, Police Sgt. Jeremy Knight said.
Now the question is: Is this the same woman who is accused of pepper-spraying a group of international students at Capital Mall on Saturday?
“That’s awfully coincidental,” said Olympia police Lt. Paul Lower upon hearing the news about the Lacey suspect. “We will be reaching out to Lacey police to see if there’s any connection to ours.”
About 7:45 p.m. Saturday, four Japanese exchange students, ages 16-20, were pepper-sprayed by a woman they had allowed to get off the bus first near JC Penney at the mall.
“Once they were all off the bus, the woman turned around and pepper sprayed the four students,” Lower told The Olympian.
Lower said so much pepper spray was used that officers could smell it in the air before they arrived.
The students asked for help at the mall. They described the woman as an “elderly white female.”
Other details shared by police on social media said the woman was last seen wearing black glasses, a gray or purple knit cap and may have had a gold scooter with her.
However, the woman in Lacey was wearing a white hoodie, brown jacket, blue jeans and had a two-tone backpack, Knight said.
