The circumstances are eerily similar. A lost driver. The wrong place. Wrong time. Wrong people packing a gun and pepper spray. SeattleCrime has details on yet another pepper spray and pistol stick-up in the Central District:

In the most recent incident we’ve come across, two suspects pulled a handgun on a man and pepper sprayed him on December 3rd after the victim stopped and asked the suspects for directions.

---

According to police, the victim pulled up to the two suspects at 21st and E Spruce around 5:45pm after he got lost on his way to a friend’s house.

One suspect then pulled out a black handgun and demanded the victim’s money.

CDN reported on what victims said was a similar hold-up of a car full of people on the icy night of November 24th at Columbia and MLK. That incident sent three people to the hospital to be treated for pepper spray exposure.

It is legal to own and carry pepper spray in Seattle and the state of Washington though you must be 18 years or older. While not available on the typical grocery mart shelves, it’s a relatively easy to acquire weapon as it is often marketed as “bear repellent.”