Spray Mace Accidentally Released At Montgomery County Applebee's

POTTSTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Diners at a Montgomery County restuarant were forced to leave after mace was accidentally released into the air.

It happened around 9:30 p.m. Sunday at the Applebee's on North State Street in Pottstown.

"We were sitting at the front of the restaurant and (we) started coughing a lot, and the people in the booth behind us were coughing a lot, too," said one patron. "We started laughing because we thought it was kind of ironic. But then a woman walked past us and said 'you should leave, somebody sprayed something. You need to get out of here.'"

Four people were taken to the hospital for evaluation.