Demonstrators Gather Near Hagerstown Police Station

They were protesting a 15-year-old girl being pepper-sprayed.

Hagerstown, Md (AP)  A Hagerstown, Maryland, police spokesman says several officers involved in the pepper-spray arrest of a 15-year-old girl remain on duty while the department investigates.

Capt. Paul Kifer spoke Wednesday evening to about 50 demonstrators who had gathered in a parking lot across the street from police headquarters.

He says the department is preparing to release police body-camera video of Sunday’s incident.

Kifer says an officer sprayed the girl as she resisted his efforts to put her in a cruiser after police determined that she had caused an accident by crashing her bicycle into the side of a moving vehicle.

Captain Kifer says the officers were white, and the girl is mixed race.

He also says the officers who were involved in this incident remain on duty.

At one point, the protesters partly blocked traffic and urged cars to honk their horns. Organizer Leon Racks said someone must be held accountable for what he considers police misconduct.

By The Associated Press