A Minot man has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault after being accused of spraying five individuals with pepper spray at a local Narcotics Anonymous meeting.

According to court documents, Lynn Wilson Jerauld, 19, Minot, was attending an NA meeting on Nov. 1 with five other individuals. According to witnesses, Jerauld left the room to smoke a cigarette, and while he was gone, the attendees began coughing and feeling burning pain in their throats, noses and eyes. Attendees and staff began to suspect a chemical or gas leak and evacuated the building.

A staff member later reviewed security footage, which allegedly showed Jerauld standing at the top of a stairwell above the meeting room, shaking a can of something that appeared to be pepper spray. Jerauld allegedly sprayed the can’s contents down the stairs toward the meeting several times before leaving the building.

Investigators later interviewed Jerauld, who allegedly admitted to being in possession of pepper spray and was just “testing” it. He was then arrested for aggravated assault, a Class C felony.

Jerauld has cases pending in North Central District Court for two separate charges of theft of firearm ammunition, a Class C felony. The incidents took place on May 1 and May 2 at two different Minot-based businesses.

At the May 1 incident, store staff found an opened carton of .22mm round ammunition with six to eight rounds missing. The suspect in this incident was able to leave the store without being confronted. The next day, police were called to a southwest Minot business after a man was seen loading shells into a gun in the bathroom. Minot Police searched adjacent businesses and locations and coordinated with loss prevention officers, who noted that the suspect from the day before had returned to the area. An employee familiar with Jerauld was able to identify him. Video footage allegedly showed Jerauld stealing a box of 50 CSI .22mm rounds. He was shortly thereafter detained.

Jerauld is being held in the Ward County Jail with bail of $5,000 cash or surety bond. His preliminary hearing in the pepper spray case is scheduled for Dec. 14. A pretrial conference is scheduled for Dec. 20 for the May 1 incident, while the May 2 incident is set for a two-day jury trial beginning March 7.