A Hamilton man faces assault with a weapon charges after two smokers were sprayed in the face with an aerosol air freshener Monday. The assailant, police say, objected to them smoking by the front doors of Dundurn Place.

The women, both residents of the Mary Street long-term care centre, were having a smoke outside the main entrance when a man approached and sprayed both of them in the face with an aerosol air freshener.

"I happened to be outside when it happened," said Ingrid Boiago, the centre's director of clinical nursing.

Boiago said she didn't see any build up to the assault, didn't hear any heated exchange or arguments before he began spraying.

"No, there was no build up — it all happened at once."

The women were shaken by the attack, Boiago said. "It was a frightening experience."

The precise ingredients of any one brand of air freshener are closely guarded, but many contain ingredients that can be harmful if inhaled and many use propellants that are flammable, like butane and propane. But Boiago said as far as she knows "they didn't suffer any serious long-term effects. But they do have (existing) health problems, and this exacerbated those."

Hamilton police say the man was "upset that they were smoking so close to the front entrance."

The main entrance to Dundurn Place is a couple of metres above the sidewalk and is accessed via a curved concrete walkway that opens into a tiny plaza immediately in front of the doors. Its size means that it is easily clogged with residents in their wheelchairs, scooters and walkers.

It also the only real outside space for residents of the building, which is by law a non-smoking facility.

"Smoking is illegal within nine metres of the entrance, just like anywhere else in the city" Boiago said. "I can understand his frustration, but you can't take the law into your own hands like that."

On Tuesday a suspect was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with a weapon. The 67-year-old man was released on a promise to appear in court to deal with the charges. Police did not name the man, but several residents identified him as the non-resident spouse of a Dundurn Place tenant.

Boiago refused to answer questions about the suspect's relationship to residents. When asked if he would be permitted to visit his spouse, she would say only that "I'll try to accommodate any visits for any of our residents, but I have to look out for the safety of all the residents, too."