A man on a bus on East Colfax Avenue caused alarm after a strong odor caused people’s eyes to burn.
Doug Schepman, a spokesman for Denver Police Department said in a released statement that preliminary information indicates a man on the bus asked a woman and the bus driver to smell an object he was holding, “which appeared to be part of a broken cell phone that looked burned.”
The woman reported difficulty breathing and was taken to the hospital, Schepman said. The bus driver reported feeling lightheaded but was not treated.
A Denver Fire Department dispatcher said officials now believe the substance was pepper spray.
Tina Jakuez, a spokeswoman for RTD, said their dispatchers received a call about the smell just before 1:40 p.m. from East Colfax Avenue and Tamarac Street.
She said the man was on two buses, one a route 15 and the other a route 15L.
Paramedics checked out and cleared several bus passengers who complained of breathing difficulty and itchy eyes, said a Denver Fire Department dispatcher.
Officers located the man, whose identity has not been released, near East Colfax Avenue and Uinta Street. Police detained and questioned the man, but said in a released statement that the incident does not appear to be criminal. Detectives are still trying to put together the details of what happened.
