Suspect Arrested in Acid Attack on Girl During Park Outing

A 26-year-old Whittier man was arrested Monday and jailed on suspicion of throwing two cups of acid into a 4-year-old La Habra girl’s face while she was on a weekend family outing in Buena Park, police said.

The suspect, Mark Edward Hand, was arrested about 5:40 p.m. by Whittier police. He was transported to Buena Park police headquarters for questioning and later taken to Orange County Jail, where he was booked on suspicion of aggravated assault with a caustic chemical. Bail was set at $25,000.

The child, Rachel Ogawa, was leaving a restroom at Los Coyotes Regional Park with her mother when an unidentified man tossed two cups of acid at her, inflicting first- and second-degree burns on her face, chest, arms and legs. The girl is listed in fair condition at St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton, where a spokesman said it does not appear that she will suffer any permanent damage to her eyesight.

Witnesses, who saw the man flee in a faded yellow pickup truck, said he appeared to have scars on his face, “as if he had been burned at one time,” Buena Park Police Officer Terry Branum said. However, Hand does not have any noticeable facial scars, Branum said.

Branum said it was the truck and an anonymous tip early Monday afternoon that led to the arrest.

About 1 p.m. a caller told Buena Park police that they could find the truck abandoned on a Whittier street, Branum said. Investigators located the truck, entered the license plate numbers in the state Department of Motor Vehicles computer and came up with Hand’s name, Branum said.

Identified in Acid Purchase

Investigators also found “something in the truck” which led them to a Garden Grove chemical company, Branum said. He declined to say what was found in the truck, nor would he identify the company.

Employees at the chemical company identified Hand as a customer who had recently purchased acetic acid at the firm, Branum said. Acetic acid is a colorless liquid compound found in vinegar and used as an ingredient in paint solvents. It is not as corrosive as sulfuric acid.

Buena Park investigators stood watch outside the Whittier home where Hand, who is unemployed, lives with his parents, Branum said. The suspect was arrested by Whittier police who spotted him walking along a street near the house.

Branum said investigators late Monday had been unable to determine if the suspect had any criminal arrests or convictions. The girl’s parents did not know the suspect, Branum said.

Interrogation of Hand “didn’t accomplish anything in the way of (establishing) a motive or anything else,” Branum said.

The girl’s father, Gary Ogawa, said he was pleased that a suspect was in custody “because the attack was so totally senseless and random.”

“We are happy not just for us, but for anyone else,” Ogawa said.

The Ogawa family had gone to the park for a picnic and was preparing to leave when the attack took place. While Rachel’s father and a younger sister went to get the car, Rachel and her mother, Elaine, stopped at the restroom.

When they came out, they were confronted by a man described as a Latino of medium build, between 18 and 20 years old, who quickly threw the contents of the cups at the child.

“The thing is, my wife only had a very rapid glimpse of the man,” Ogawa said. “They thought he was entering the (women’s) restroom by mistake. He threw the cups in my daughter’s face. A second later he dropped the cups and ran.”

The mother carried her daughter to their car, and she and her husband began searching for a park ranger. When the girl began screaming in pain, her father carried her to a nearby pond and immersed her in the water.

Ogawa, an assistant professor of pharmacology at USC, said the acid “completely covered” the girl’s face.

Said St. Jude Hospital spokesman Norm Anderson: “As far as her eyesight goes, I’ve spoken with her physician, and he thinks it should be good.” However, Anderson said, there is a chance that the girl suffered corneal damage in the attack.

“She is in fair condition and is in less pain that she was yesterday (Sunday),” Anderson said, “Her eyes are badly swollen, but she’s resting comfortably.”

But Ogawa disputed contentions by hospital officials that the girl would not suffer permanent damage to her eyesight. Both the girl’s eyes are swollen shut, he said, and it will be several days before physicians can determine the extent of the damage.

Branum said investigators may seek an additional charge of mayhem if the child suffers permanent eye damage.