A toxic Long Island bully tossed sulfuric acid in his girlfriend’s face, disfiguring her in an agonizing chemical attack that melted the clothes off her body, authorities said.
Douglas Graves, 42, picked up a Clorox bleach bottle filled with the acid and chucked it at his girlfriend during an argument inside his Wyandanch home on the morning of Nov. 16, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.
The acid immediately ate through the fabric of the unidentified woman’s clothes and burned her skin as she screamed in “excruciating pain,” prosecutors said. By the time officers arrived, her clothes were allegedly disintegrating from the chemical reaction, and she had suffered devastating burns across her face and torso.
“This kind of cruelty is unimaginable,” Suffolk County DA Ray Tierney said in a statement.
“Survivors of domestic violence deserve unwavering protection, and we will not tolerate those who believe they can brutalize their partners without consequence,” Tierney added.
First responders rushed her to Nassau University Medical Center, where despite efforts to neutralize the acid, her burns continued to worsen for nearly a week, the DA said. She now requires reconstructive surgeries to repair the damage done to her skin, according to Tierney.
The victim allegedly told investigators that Graves regularly carried the acid mixture for “personal protection.” By the time authorities arrived, the abuser had bolted from the home — but he was busted later that same morning.
After he was brought into custody, Graves allegedly tried to sabotage the case from behind bars, the DA said.
Graves allegedly made a series of phone calls to two female associates between Nov. 20 and Nov. 24, asking them for help preventing his battered girlfriend from testifying against him — even going as far as trying to contact the still-hospitalized victim himself from jail, prosecutors said.
He has been slapped with multiple counts of assault, as well as weapons possession, witness tampering, and criminal contempt charges.
A judge ordered him held on $150,000 cash bail, $500,000 bond, or a $1 million partially secured bond, prosecutors said.
He has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 25 years in prison on the top charge.
