Guilty verdict in chemical attack on Santa Cruz federal building

Jurors on Wednesday convicted a man of multiple charges for pouring a mix of bleach and ammonia on the Social Security Administration building.

Joseph Anton Loris was convicted of assault with caustic chemicals, vandalism with caustic chemicals and vandalism.

Loris was arrested in May after prosecutors say he threw a rock through the window of the office on Walnut Avenue in Santa Cruz, and then poured a bottle of bleach and ammonia into the building.

The mixture creates chlorine gas, which is both toxic and caustic. Prosecutors said that a janitor and two Social Security Administration employees suffered irritation to their eyes, nose, throats and lungs as a result.

Loris faces up to five years and four months behind bars when he is sentenced on Oct. 22.