GMU Professor at Arlington Campus Pepper-Sprayed While Teaching Class on Vigilantes

Arlington County police last week arrested an Alexandria man for allegedly pepper-spraying a GMU professor while he was lecturing in class, according to Arlington County Police.

The man, Jonathan Eric Pendleton, 31, of Alexandria, allegedly pepper-sprayed Tyler Cowen, an economist and author, last Wednesday as he was lecturing about vigilantes, according to The Huffington Post. About a dozen students were in the class and treated; none were hospitalized.

Pendleton reportedly burst into the George Mason University Arlington campus classroom and tried to make a citizen's arrest and when that didn't work, he reportedly pepper-sprayed the professor and chased him into a hallway, the Huffington Post report said. An off-duty officer in the class held Pendleton until police arrived.

Pendleton was charged with assault with a caustic substance and abduction, an Arlington County Police spokesman said.