Man to Be Tried in Acid Attack During Holdup

Andres Chaidez, 22, came to the United States from Mexico five years ago in search of a better life but his prospects were dashed last September, when a robber threw a cupful of sulfuric acid in his face after Chaidez refused to give him money.

Chaidez is blind, and doctors say he will never regain his sight. His face is badly disfigured. Instead of working, the former auto mechanic just sits at his mother’s home in Huntington Park.

“I can’t do anything. I am staying home,” Chaidez said Monday through an interpreter after a preliminary hearing in Van Nuys Municipal Court for Henry Gregory Tristan, 42, of Arleta. Tristan was ordered to stand trial for the attack on three felony counts of aggravated mayhem, assault with a caustic chemical and robbery. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

During the preliminary hearing, Chaidez testified that he was driving to visit some relatives on the evening of Sept. 5 when a stranger approached him and demanded money. Chaidez said when he refused to give him the money, the man tossed a cup of liquid, later identified as sulfuric acid, in his face.

Chaidez drove away, but he stopped when he could no longer see, he said. Although Chaidez could not identify Tristan as his assailant, police said Tristan’s fingerprints were found on a coffee mug, left near the scene, containing sulfuric acid, a colorless, highly corrosive liquid used in the manufacture of paints, dyes, fertilizers and explosives.