Man Temporarily Blinded After Stranger Throws Corrosive Liquid On Him At Bus Stop
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Police are investigating after a man says a total stranger threw some sort of acid in his face as he was waiting for his bus in Scott Township.
Bryan Tann is perplexed as to what prompted a man to throw the corrosive liquid in his face and eyes while waiting for the bus.
It happened Tuesday around 6 p.m. along Washington Avenue. Tann was at the bus stop by himself, playing a game on his smartphone and listening to music when it happened.
He was temporarily blinded.
"All I heard was, 'Hey, what's up?'" Tann said. "Then, I see this glass jar with this yellow liquid, and just throws it right in my face. That's when I stood up and put my hands like this, and of course, I couldn't see."
Tann says he stumbled back onto Washington Avenue, but was able to get his bearings, and then went to a nearby business to ask for a towel and wipe off his face.
That's when he realized that his jacket had been melted by the liquid.
Scott Township Police were called in and Tann was taken to Saint Clair Hospital for treatment of his eyes.
Tann says the person who did it was wearing dark clothing. He describes him as an African American man, standing between 5-foot-7-inches to 5-foot-9-inches tall with a slender to average build.
Scott Township Police confirm the report was filed about this incident.
The liquid thrown on Tann was so powerful that it was still giving off noxious fumes days later.
KDKA-TV's Paul Martino said Thursday when police opened up the hazardous material bag to show him the victim's burned-up coat, fumes filled the room.
Scott Police sergeant Jeff Skees says he won't be opening that hazardous material bag again. He's turning it over to the county crime lab to find out what was tossed at Tann.
Police aren't sure if this was a random attack or not, but they're certain it was sadistic.
"Assaulting someone's one thing, with your hands," Skees said, "but then using some type of toxic substance. That's... it's is kind of alarming."
Officers say they're looking into surveillance video from nearby businesses that may have captured what happened.
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