Arrest made in stink bomb incident at provincial building

Niagara Regional Police have arrested a man in connection to a stink bomb incident that closed a government building in downtown St. Catharines.

David Stout, 29, of St. Catharines was arrested Friday at about 11:30 a.m., police say. He is charged with mischief over

$5,000 and administering a noxious substance.

The Ontario government building at 301 St. Paul St. was closed Tuesday after a man entered the building shortly before 1 p.m. carrying a large green duffle bag. Security camera footage shows the man in the area of the second floor elevator where he sprayed an noxious substance — police said they believe it to be a “dog irritant.”

Samples from where the substance was sprayed were collected and are now being tested at the Centre of Forensic Sciences to confirm that.

People in the building were “affected” by the substance, although police did not specifically say how.

A spokeswoman from Infrastructure Ontario said in a statement Wednesday evening that the building had been closed due to an unknown odour. The St. Catharines fire department and an environmental consultant ran tests and did not detect anything hazardous in the building. However, additional testing was scheduled Thursday as a precaution.

The building is scheduled to reopen on Tuesday after the Easter long weekend.

Police say they are still trying to determine what substance was sprayed in the building.