A developmentally disabled man who walked away from a group home Tuesday night ended up being sprayed with pepper spray in a scuffle with a police officer.

Lawrence Police Sgt. Michael Monroe said he believed the officer acted appropriately, in part because the man he sprayed was 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 279 pounds.

“He’s an adult, and whether he’s special-needs or not he’s still a big guy,” Monroe said. “He was quite a bit bigger than the officer.”

Monroe said the 22-year-old man walked away around 6 p.m. from a home operated by Community Living Opportunities. When the man’s counselor called police to help bring him back, an officer found the man in the 2500 block of West 31st Street, Monroe said.

“He started pushing an officer … in an attempt to leave the area,” Monroe said.

The two tangled on the sidewalk and ended up in the grass. During the scuffle, the CLO client got a bloody nose, and the officer sprayed him with pepper spray, Monroe said

Monroe said that residents nearby saw the fight and helped bring the man under control. He was released to CLO and not arrested.