Police: Man pours acid on girlfriend

BAY MINETTE, Ala. - A terrifying attack has left a young woman disfigured by a caustic chemical. Bay Minette police say, her boyfriend doused her with drain cleaner.

The warnings on a bottle of drain cleaner are dire. It's concentrated sulfuric acid that will dissolve anything organic, and police in Bay Minette say this is what 33-year-old Mario Mendez used to attack his girlfriend, Carrie Taylor.

After twenty four years on the force, Captain Clarence Crook says, he's never seen anything like it.

"It's very toxic," he said. "It's actually an acid. It burns your skin, your flesh, basically anything it touches, it burns."

Police say the attack happened after a late night argument over the weekend. They say, Mendez followed Taylor to a home on Almyra street, broke in, and went after her with the drain cleaner.

"He basically chased her around in the residence and doused it on her as she tried to get away from him," Captain Crook said.

The chemicals in the cleaner soaked through Taylor's clothing and burned much of her body. Bay Minette police say the drain cleaner caused third degree burns from her knees to her chest. The injuries aren't life threatening, but Taylor will be left with scars for life.

Mendez in now in the Baldwin County jail facing charges of burglary and assault.

Taylor is at the USA burn center facing a painful recovery.