BATON ROUGE - The East Baton Sheriff’s Office says a prison employee was fired Friday as a result of an investigation into the misuse of pepper spray.

EBRSO reports the employee was accused of misusing the FREEZE+P handheld chemical agent while working a private extra-duty detail assignment at the Battle of the Bands function at Southern University in April.

Reports indicated the worker sprayed his pepper spray on the ground in close proximity to people as they were exiting the stadium where the event was held.

The sheriff’s office said they recently received information related to the incident and began the investigation to determine if the spray was used by an EBRSO employee. After it was determined that the deputy did in fact misuse the spray, he was fired for multiple policy violations including conduct unbecoming, unsatisfactory performance, false statements and use of force.