click to enlarge - James Buck
- A stairwell inside Decker Towers
A Decker Towers resident who fogged a stairwell with pepper spray after confronting several transient people has been charged with assault for unwittingly hitting a janitor. Brandon Luther, 32, pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge in Chittenden County Superior Court on Thursday morning.
Luther told
Seven Days that he hadn't realized the janitor, an 18-year-old woman, was on the landing when he used the spray on Wednesday afternoon.
"I feel absolutely fucking horrible," he said. "I would give her a chance to pepper spray
me, if I could."
In recent months, many Decker Towers residents have armed themselves with stun guns, pepper spray and firearms as common areas in their low-income apartment building have been overrun by outsiders using drugs and sleeping. Residents are establishing a neighborhood watch to force trespassers to leave.
Luther said he counts himself as a member of the tenant watch group, though he was not on a patrol during the encounter.
Luther said he and some other residents have learned that by deploying pepper spray into stairwell landings, they can keep unwanted visitors out for a couple of hours.
Seven Days reported on the practice in
a February 14 cover story about the dangerous conditions inside the building.
Luther said he'd encountered two people loitering in a trash room near his fifth-floor apartment, including a man he recognized as someone thought to carry weapons. Luther told them to leave, an argument ensued, and they threatened him, Luther said. The pair eventually left. Luther said he decided to spray the landing to keep them from coming back.
"It's a normal thing for us, if we're dealing with a bunch of issues, to spray the [stair]case to deter them for a while."
Luther said he cracked open the door to the stairwell, held the canister out, released a cloud of pepper spray and retreated.
"I heard a scream. I thought maybe I got a junkie," he said.
In fact, the screams were those of a young woman who, according to court records, is paid by Burlington Housing Authority to maintain the building. The woman told police that she was cleaning the stairwell when she saw the door open and a canister protrude. Whoever sprayed her gave no warning and said nothing afterward, she told police.
Confused and frightened, she ran down the stairs, court records state. A Burlington police officer who arrived soon afterward said the woman had bloodshot, watery eyes; a running nose; and a flushed face.
Police reviewed surveillance video of the hallway alongside Decker Towers.
Luther told
Seven Days that he cried when he later learned who he had struck. A judge on Thursday allowed Luther to return home pending trial on the condition that he not possess pepper spray or dangerous weapons.
Luther, who used to be homeless himself, said the situation at Decker Towers has left him constantly on edge.
"I've already lost my mind completely being here," he said.
The newly formed tenant council has not yet begun organized patrols of the building, resident leader Cathy Foley said. The group is still developing its procedures and arranging a training session for would-be patrollers.
Burlington Housing Authority executive director Steven Murray said his agency supports the neighborhood watch — but only if the participants avoid direct confrontations. Murray said he plans to ask the group to commit to such an approach in writing.
"To use a weapon without the training to deal with a situation with someone who is probably armed and obviously belligerent is not a win for anybody," he said. "And if you do break a law as a tenant in the building, there are consequences."
"This is a horrible situation," Murray added. "We should never be here."
The tenant council has been pushing for Burlington Housing Authority and the City of Burlington to hire round-the-clock security to stand at the front entrance and patrol common areas. But private security guards are expensive, and so far, no one has agreed to cover the cost.