Albany teen accused of throwing bleach in boy's face

PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Goot

A 15-year-old Livingston Avenue girl has been arrested on a felony assault charge for allegedly throwing bleach into the face of another teen outside of the Arbor Hill Public Library earlier this month.

The girl, whose name is not being released because of her age, was sitting with another girl in the library’s teen area. The victim, also 15, came into the library with another friend and sat down close to the suspect.

Both girls started to make fun of the victim’s clothes and his appearance, according to police. Witnesses told police that the suspect started taking pictures and video of the victim with her cell phone. The victim became annoyed and knocked the camera out of the girl’s hand, according to police. The suspect then started causing a commotion and yelled at the victim, saying “you’re going to get the bleach.”

A library employee told the suspect and her friend to leave because of the noise they were making. Shortly after they left, the victim walked out of the library and was confronted by the suspect. She took a Mountain Dew bottle with liquid inside and threw it in the victim’s face. Both girls then ran off.

The victim went back inside the library where staff flushed his eyes out with water. He was taken to Albany Medical Center with redness in his eye and was treated and released. The hospital determined the liquid was bleach. He did not suffer any permanent damage to the face or eye.

The suspect was issued an appearance ticket for Albany County Family Court and released to her mother.

Meanwhile, on Monday at around 3 p.m. three girls were fighting outside the Adult Learning Center on Western Avenue. When officers arrived, they quickly broke up the fight. A school official turned over a soda bottle filled with bleach that was taken from one of the girls involved in the fight.

One of the girls was arrested on a family court PINS warrant.

Police spokesman James Miller said the department is not aware of any other instances of bleach being used as a weapon and have not seen any trend until now.