St. Louis man gets probation in Lincoln University pepper spray incident

A St. Louis man has been placed on two years of unsupervised probation in connection with pepper-spraying four people at Lincoln University in May.

Johnny Ricks, 20, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of misdemeanor peace disturbance before Cole County Associate Circuit Judge Tom Sodergren. He had been charged with felony third-degree assault.

In the early morning hours of May 8, there was a disturbance in the parking lot of Dawson Hall on Lee Drive, according to a Lincoln University Police Department probable cause statement.

Officers found a woman and three men who had been shot with pepper spray. They all identified Ricks as the man who had sprayed them and were taken to local hospitals for treatment.