Brea : Acid Attack Cited in Fight Against Restroom

Residents who oppose the construction of a restroom in their neighborhood park said they plan to write letters to the City Council citing a recent acid attack on a 4-year-old girl leaving a park restroom in Buena Park.

The Glenbrook Homeowners Assn. residents, who oppose construction of a restroom because they fear it could harbor child molesters, said that the Buena Park incident is unusual but that it is an example of what could happen.

Two cups of acid were splashed on the face of Rachel Ogawa as she and her mother were leaving a restroom at Los Coyotes Regional Park on Jan. 19. A 26-year-old Whittier man was arrested the next day.

“See, it’s another park with another restroom,” said Pat A. Mead, whose home overlooks the Brea park. “A restroom is a place for them to stay and wait because nobody can see you.”

Mead said that she and her neighbors will ask the council members to reconsider their Jan. 7 decision to allow improvements, including a new restroom, at the neighborhood park.

“We don’t want the restroom there. And we signed the petition, but they didn’t pay attention to that. We want them to go to the park and take a look at it,” said Mead, who is co-founder of a group whose work is related to child abuse.

Councilman Carrey Nelson, the only city official to vote against the restroom construction, said he supports the residents’ protest of the council’s decision. Nelson agreed with the residents that the two-acre area is too small to deserve the improvements the city has intended for it.

“We see this (the restroom) as a potential problem. Why spend all that extra money to create a problem,” Glenbrook resident Jim Mead said.

The city plans to spend up to $85,000 for the improvements, which have undergone several modifications to meet residents’ demands.