Woman Treated For Possible Chemical Burns After Hate Crime Reported In Harford County
ABINGDON, Md. (WJZ) -- The Harford County Sheriff's Office is investigating after a woman told them that two people yelled homophobic slurs and threw an unknown liquid causing chemical burns.
They have no witness or video footage and now are hoping that someone saw what happened and comes forward to solve this assault and hate crime.
The incident happened between 12:30 and 1 p.m. Thursday in the Home Goods parking lot in the 3400 block of Emmorton Road. The woman told sheriff deputies a small black passenger car with two people in it pulled up. After they threw the liquid, they drove away.
The woman thought the liquid was water, but an hour later her skin began to itch and burn. She was treated for what appeared to be chemical burns at an urgent care.
"They made some derogatory comments towards them and then they threw a clear liquid onto our victim," said Col. William Davis of the sheriff's office. "She decided to go get medical treatment for that and found out that they had some type of chemical burns."
The slurs were homophobic, Davis said.
Police said the driver was a white man in his twenties with short black hair, and the passenger was a white woman in her early twenties with light brown hair.
Deputies don't haven't been able to find any security video of the incident or witnesses and are now trying to figure out what the liquid is, Davis said.
"Obviously, these types of incidents aren't tolerated by Harford County as a community and certainly not by the Harford County Sheriff's Office so we're taking it very seriously," he said.
At least one resident said she was concerned.
"People are throwing chemicals on people I mean what is happening in this world? It's just crazy," said Diane, a Harford County resident.
Diane says her daughter who's gay has been discriminated against in the community and wishes there was less hatred in the world today.
"At the end of the day whether you're religious or not, we're supposed to love one another, she said.
The sheriff's office is asking anyone with information to call Corporal Maddox at 443-409-3551.
