Two Grass Valley men on probation for prior criminal history in the town are now facing fresh charges. Police Sergeant Brian Blakemore says it started with a report of 31-year-old Ruben Bernal looking in three occupied vehicles in the parking lot separating the Gold Miner’s Inn and the Circle K station, Tuesday afternoon….

When officers returned, Blakemore says they found Bernal coming out of the back seat of a car owned by 34-year-old Johnathan Bancroft, whom, it was later learned, he was acquainted with. A probation search turned up small quantities of methamphetamine and one can of pepper spray, which is illegal for Bernal to possess. Some stolen items were also found in Bernal’s car, which was parked in the same lot. Blakemore says Bancroft was found inside a car owned by Bernal’s girlfriend, in the Union Square parking lot. Bancroft faces similar charges as Bernal…

Neither men claimed ownership of the pepper spray.