Man Wanted in New Haven Chemical Attack May Be in Atlanta

By Rich Scinto (Patch Staff)

New Haven, CT, Police are seeking a man who is accused of throwing a caustic chemical on a woman who declined his marriage proposal.

The victim was rushed to Yale-New Haven Hospital with discolored and peeling skin after the Jan. 8 attack on Spring Street, said Officer David Hartman, police spokesman.

The victim told police that her upstairs neighbor and former boyfriend attacked her with the chemical after she refused to marry him.

She had an active restraining order against him. Police found the remains of the chemical in a Solo cup. The woman has since been released from the hospital.

Suspect Derek Lee Rawls, 50, is believed to be on the run and may be in the Atlanta, Ga. area, Hartman said. He is 5’8’’ and weighs 220 pounds.

He has brown (brown/grey) hair and brown eyes. He’s clean shaven. He has a small scar on his cheek, beneath his right eye. He has two tattoos – one on his upper right arm which depicts praying hands. The second, on his right forearm depicts a portrait of his two children’s faces. Rawls is a convicted felon. His criminal history includes convictions for robbery, first degree escape, unlawful-restraint in the second degree and felonious assault in Ohio.

The victim reported Rawls has told her he has a handgun but she admitted she’d never seen it. He drives a champagne colored Ford Taurus. The registration plate was reported as AB9-3711 (CT). No information relates to the plate so it may have been inaccurately reported but similar.

Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at 203-946-6304.