UDPATE: Man charged with discharging pepper spray on jogger in December

A man who reportedly pepper sprayed a jogger in Wilmette in December turned himself in on Feb. 5, according to the Wilmette Police Department.

Sarunas Prapuolenis, 73, of Wilmette, was charged with misdemeanor battery related to a Dec. 14 incident in which he reportedly sprayed a female jogger who was passing him on Michigan Avenue. 

In the initial report, the victim told police a man who was walking in the opposite direction, later identified as Prapuolenis, yelled “keep your distance” before discharging the spray. 

As the woman kept jogging, the report says, her face began to burn. She was treated on the scene. 

Video surveillance from nearby buildings captured the incident and helped investigators identify Prapuolenis as the suspect, said Wilmette Police Cmdr. Michael Robinson.

Robinson added that the victim also identified Prapuolenis when he came to the station. 

Prapuolenis reportedly was accompanied by an attorney and made no statements about the incident, Robinson said. He called the incident a “one-off” as no other similar reports have recently been filed before or since Dec. 14.

Prapuolenis will appear at the Skokie Courthouse at 1:30 p.m. March 18.