Manhunt Intensifies As Acid Attacker Escapes Police Roadblock

The hunt for the man suspected of being behind the brutal acid attack on his former girlfriend intensifies yesterday when he evaded a police road block in Andalucia.

Footage has been released of the moment the suspect evaded the police roadblock in his vehicle, which was later abandoned.

 

The previously unidentified man has also now been named as Jose Arcadio, alias El Melillero, aged 26, whose picture has been released by the police in Casabermeja in the southern province of Malaga in the Spanish region of Andalusia.

Two young women were left horrifically burned after the suspect sprayed sulphuric acid inside their car on Cristobal Toral Street in the municipality of Cartama in the southern Spanish province of Malaga on Tuesday before speeding off.

The police said that one of the young women, identified as Sandra Garcia, was the suspect’s former girlfriend and the other was her best friend. They jumped out the car after being sprayed with acid and the vehicle then carried on moving until it crashed.

Police found a bottle of sulphuric acid in the scene that can be bought online for 12.20 EUR.

Eyewitness Anabel Rueda, who tried to help the women, told the newspaper La Opinion de Malaga that they were lying on the ground and one of them complained that she was cold and that it hurt a lot.

When an ambulance arrived, Garcia was so critical that paramedics took an hour to stabilise her before they could take her to Hospital Virgen del Rocio in Seville where she was placed in intensive care and is said to be in a critical condition after suffering burns over 45 percent of her body.

Her friend, who suffered 20 percent burns mainly to her face, is also in a serious condition and hospitalised.

Video footage shared on social networks shows the suspect evading a police roadblock with a woman’s voice saying “El Melillero” and “son of the bitch”.

The police were apparently not expecting the manoeuvre and officers on the road are seen running to get in their vehicles to pursue the fleeing suspect.

The abandoned car was later found in the municipality of Mijas after it apparently broke down.

According to police, the suspect has a criminal record and was the victim of an attempted murder some years ago.

He also had a restriction order against him for domestic violence and threats and was under investigation for drug trafficking.