BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP -- After a Fairfield Township family and their guests were exposed to tear gas used in a police training exercise, Hamilton police have decided to take steps to prevent a recurrence, Capt. Michael L. Story, Hamilton's acting police chief, said Friday.
The incident happened Wednesday morning.
People who were outside the home of Michael and Ruth Ann Petramalo, 5686 Headgates Road, around 10:15 a.m. "were overcome by an unknown chemical in the air," says a report filed with the Butler County Sheriff's Office. "They instantly had a burning feeling of the eyes and lungs."
The affected people, including Mrs. Petramalo, 36, who is eight months pregnant, evacuated the residence and called the sheriff's office from a business, the report says.
When a sheriff's deputy investigated, he learned that the Hamilton police tactical team was conducting a training exercise at the police firing range, which is across the street from Mrs. Petramalo's house. Hamilton police said they opened four canisters of CS gas, a type of fast-acting tear gas, around 10 a.m.
The canisters are about the size of a 12-ounce soft drink can, and the training exercise was intended to teach officers how to properly activate the gas, said Lt. Steve Isgro, who heads the tactical team.
The report doesn't say whether anyone sought medical attention; attempts to reach the Petramaloses were unsuccessful Friday. Acting Chief Story said the gas is not considered dangerous and has been routinely used in police training for many years. He also said this is the first citizen complaint of gas exposure in at least 28 years of its use at the firing range.
Perhaps wind conditions and other factors combined in an unusual way to allow the gas to reach neighboring residents, Capt. Story said. Officers were situated about 50 yards closer to the roadway than they typically have been in years past, he noted.
In the future, officers plan to stay farther back from the roadway and intend to warn neighbors that police are about to deploy the gas, so that the neighbors might remain indoors and avoid possible exposure, Capt. Story said.
