Suspect Unleashes Bear Spray on 8 Officers Trying To Serve an Arrest Warrant

What began as an attempt to serve an arrest warrant turned into a chaotic foot chase through a wooded area in Florida, ending with eight law enforcement officers and a police K-9 affected by bear spray before the suspect was finally taken into custody.

In body-camera footage published by Midwest Safety, the channel’s narrator identified the suspect as 31-year-old Kyle Young and said officers had been attempting to arrest him on Nov. 24, 2025. The video shows deputies pursuing Young through thick vegetation and repeatedly ordering him to stop, show his hands and get on the ground.

According to the narrator, Young’s parents had spoken with officers beforehand and told them he had not been taking his medication and had been behaving erratically and unpredictably.

That information added another layer of difficulty to an arrest that was already unfolding across uneven terrain, where officers repeatedly lost and regained visual contact with Young as he moved through the area.

Officers Chase Young Through Woods and Trails

Early in the footage, deputies can be heard warning Young that a police dog would be used if he refused to stop.

“Sheriff’s Office K-9, you’re going to get dog bit,” one officer repeatedly shouted as Young ran.

Deputies moved through the woods while another officer tried to provide updates on Young’s location, at one point reporting that he was walking northbound through a conservation area.

The footage shows officers trying to reposition themselves while coordinating the K-9 team and less-lethal options.

When deputies caught sight of Young again, they repeatedly ordered him to show his hands.

Officers became particularly concerned when they believed he was reaching toward his waistband.

“Stop reaching,” one deputy shouted several times, while another warned fellow officers about crossfire.

Young could be heard responding that he was a “United States citizen,” but he continued moving away as officers ordered him to stop.

The situation already looked tense because deputies did not appear to know exactly what Young might be carrying. Any movement toward a waistband during an armed police encounter can quickly raise the stakes, and the footage shows officers struggling to maintain distance while still trying to close in on him.

Bear Spray Changes the Entire Arrest

The confrontation escalated sharply when Young allegedly produced a can of bear spray.

As deputies approached, the footage suddenly becomes much more frantic, with officers shouting for a Taser and trying to control Young while several of them began reacting to the chemical spray.

One deputy could soon be heard saying, “I can’t see.”

Others struggled with burning eyes and difficulty remaining close to the suspect, while officers who could still see tried to secure Young and keep the scene under control.

Midwest Safety’s narrator said eight officers were ultimately affected by the bear spray.

The police K-9 was also exposed.

After Young was on the ground, officers tried to help one another recover while also checking the dog and attempting to wipe spray from affected faces.

The footage makes clear how quickly a single canister changed the balance of the encounter. Officers had a large numerical advantage, but once several of them could no longer see properly, simply putting Young in handcuffs became much harder.

Officers Struggle With Cross-Contamination

Later in the video, guest commentator Donut, who said Midwest Safety had asked him to give his opinion on the incident, explained why bear spray can create such a difficult situation for officers.

Donut said that, based on his own experience being pepper sprayed, the chemical itself is extremely unpleasant even when a person is not struck directly.

He explained that bear spray is not necessarily dramatically stronger than the spray officers commonly carry, but that it can come out of the container in far greater volume.

According to Donut, that meant officers did not necessarily have to take a direct blast to experience its effects.

The chemical can remain suspended in the air and move with the wind, he said, exposing people standing nearby.

He also pointed to another problem visible in the footage: cross-contamination.

Because Young had spray on his own body and clothing, deputies who eventually had to grab him and physically restrain him could also end up transferring the chemical onto themselves.

That explanation helps make sense of why so many officers appeared affected even though they were positioned at different distances from Young. Once a chemical irritant fills the air and coats people involved in a physical struggle, it becomes difficult to contain.

Young Continues Arguing After His Arrest

After officers finally got Young under control, the footage shows him continuing to question deputies and asking for water to rinse his eyes.

He repeatedly asked where his parents were and requested medical attention for the effects of the spray.

One officer told him that his parents were safe.

Young also challenged deputies about the arrest and asked why they had entered the preserve where he had been running.

An officer responded that they were there because he had a warrant.

“They told you they’re the police and you sprayed them,” another deputy told him.

At another point, an officer asked why Young had not simply allowed himself to be handcuffed, noting that the deputies were in uniform and had clearly identified themselves as law enforcement.

Young said he had carried the bear spray because he was in a preserve and mentioned bears and dogs.

The exchange became argumentative at times, with frustrated officers telling him to stop talking while some of their colleagues were still dealing with burning eyes.

Considering what had just happened, the irritation in the scene is understandable, although the footage also shows how emotionally charged an arrest can become once officers themselves have been hurt or temporarily disabled.

Court Records Show Multiple Felony Counts

Midwest Safety’s narrator said court records later showed that Young faced a series of charges connected to the encounter.

Those included resisting without violence and eight felony counts of battery on a law enforcement officer, one for each officer affected by the bear spray.

The narrator also said Young was charged with a felony count involving maliciously touching, striking or causing harm to a police K-9.

According to the channel, Young was later determined to be mentally unable to stand trial and was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.

The narrator said Young was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition until Dec. 3, 2026.

His case was subsequently closed, and he was released.

That outcome creates an unusual contrast with the intensity of the footage. The arrest itself involved a large police response, a K-9, a Taser, chemical spray and multiple alleged felony batteries, yet the legal process later turned heavily on Young’s mental competency.

An Arrest That Quickly Went Off Course

Midwest Safety’s narrator described the encounter as an example of how an arrest that appears straightforward on paper can become unpredictable in seconds.

There were numerous officers dealing with one suspect, but the wooded terrain, Young’s repeated movement away from deputies and the use of bear spray made the situation much more difficult than the numbers suggested.

Donut similarly noted that the arrest could have become even more dangerous if Young had possessed another weapon while several officers were unable to see.

Fortunately, he said, enough deputies remained capable of acting to complete the arrest.

The footage is a strong example of how quickly control can disappear during a police encounter. The officers began with a warrant and a plan to take one man into custody, but the moment bear spray entered the scene, several deputies and the K-9 were suddenly dealing with their own exposure while others had to finish the arrest.

In the end, Young was taken into custody without the confrontation escalating into gunfire, but the body-camera footage shows how close a seemingly routine warrant service can come to becoming something much more serious.