CA11: Use of pepper spray on somebody kicking a police car isn’t excessive force

The use of pepper spray on somebody kicking a police car isn’t excessive force. Nigro v. Carrasquillo, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 17921 (11th Cir. Oct. 4, 2016):

Officer Carrasquillo’s use of pepper spray did not constitute excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Officer Carrasquillo applied two short bursts of pepper spray in response to Ms. Nigro’s violently kicking the patrol car door and resisting arrest. The use of minimal force associated with a couple of two-second bursts of pepper spray was reasonable force to prevent Ms. Nigro from further damaging government property, injuring herself, or harming the officers. First, we have explained—albeit under different facts—that “[p]epper spray is a specially noninvasive weapon and may be one very safe and effective method of handling a violent suspect who may cause further harm to himself or others.” McCormich v. City of Ft. Lauderdale, 333 F.3d 1234, 1245 (11th Cir. 2003). Here Ms. Nigro, who has been detained pursuant to Florida’s Baker Act, was acting violently inside the patrol car. Second, in Vinyard we said in dicta that the use of pepper spray to subdue an arrestee who was acting violently in a patrol car is not excessive force. See Vinyard, 311 F.3d at 1348 n.9. That dicta is persuasive, and we follow it in this case.