In a shocking incident last month, three teenage girls were taken into custody in Jersey City following allegations of throwing acid at a group of six women, according to a city spokesperson.
The attack occurred on June 15, when the women were near Wilkinson Avenue. It was then that “individuals approached and hurled what is believed to be sulfuric acid at them,” shared Kim Wallace Scalcione, the spokesperson for the Jersey City Department of Public Safety, in a statement provided to News Media.
News Media reported that the suspects, aged 13, 14, and 15, were apprehended on June 16 and 17 in connection with the disturbing act.
Scalcione noted that “all six victims were taken to a nearby hospital, where they received treatment for injuries, including skin burns and peeling, which were fortunately not life-threatening.”
The incident took place in Jersey City, New Jersey, where three teenage girls have been arrested for allegedly launching an acid attack on a group of six women. (Photo by LeoPatrizi)
Three of the victims were teenagers, and one of them, a 21-year-old woman, had to be transported to a hospital burn unit to be treated for second-degree burns to her face and scalp, Scalcione said.
The girls who were arrested each face charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon/bodily injury, illegal weapons possession, risking injury and conspiracy.
Scalcione said the incident “appears to have been targeted and may have stemmed from an earlier dispute among a large group.”
The suspects’ identities have not been released.
Officials told NBC New York that the women targeted were in their car when the teens drove by on a moped and threw sulfuric acid on them.
Sulfuric acid leaks on the floor. Jersey City authorities believe the girls used sulfuric acid in the attack. (Kittisak Kaewchalun)
According to the National Library of Medicine, sulfuric acid is a corrosive chemical that can cause “severe burns and tissue damage when it comes into contact with the skin or mucous membranes.”
The acid attack in Jersey comes after a 31-year-old man was arrested in Brooklyn for allegedly orchestrating a similar assault on his ex-girlfriend.
Shaquille Coke escorted by police after arrest in NYC acid attack case. (Fox 5 New York)
Shaquille Coke, 31, pleaded not guilty at his March 24 arraignment in Nassau County court on charges including first-degree assault in connection with the 2021 attack on a 21-year-old woman outside her Elmont home.
The substance Coke’s alleged accomplice threw at the victim was later determined to be 70% sulfuric acid, prosecutors said.