Man Burned in Acid Attack in His San Clemente Home

A San Clemente man who had acid flung in his face when he answered his doorbell suffered burns over 20% of his body but is in fair condition at UCI Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Helmut Biller, 44, was in the living room of his hillside home on Avenida Salvador shortly after 10 p.m. Monday when the doorbell rang several times. When he opened the door, “the acid came at him,” Detective Leonard Goodwin said.

Rinsed Off in Shower

“He came back into the house and screamed, ‘dial 911, male Asian, 5 foot 6,’ ” before racing to the shower to rinse off the burning liquid, said Lt. Al Ehlow, quoting a female friend of Biller who was in the room but did not see the attack.

The woman, whose name police have not revealed, is a student at Cal State Long Beach, Ehlow said. She suffered minor burns when she touched Biller’s clothing, Goodwin said.

The caustic liquid has been tentatively identified as sulfuric acid, Goodwin added.

Biller was treated by paramedics and flown to UCI Medical Center in Orange by helicopter. He sustained first-, second- and third-degree burns on his face, left arm, chest, neck and back, and his right eye is injured, hospital spokeswoman Barbara Firger said.

Possible surgery was canceled Tuesday, and doctors were evaluating Biller’s injuries Tuesday night, Firger said.

Biller, reached by telephone at the UCI burn unit, said: “I’m very sorry, but I don’t feel like talking about this.”

Goodwin, who interviewed Biller for about 45 minutes Tuesday, said the victim was “pretty drugged up and didn’t feel very good.” He could see out of one eye, Goodwin said. When asked if Biller knew his assailant, Goodwin said Biller “told me he didn’t get a good look at him.”

“Right now we have no leads,” he said, and as for a motive, “anything is a possibility.”

A firefighter and two police officers who answered the call at Biller’s home became ill from the acid and were taken to San Clemente General Hospital, where they were treated and released. The other officers at the scene were decontaminated for exposure to the chemical, and the front entry to the house was rinsed and flushed for 15 minutes, a Fire Department spokeswoman said.

Police searched the area Monday night but found no suspects.

Neighbors described Biller as “an amiable fellow,” and they thought he lived alone. He was often away from San Clemente on business trips that took him “around the world,” they said. Goodwin said that Biller owned an import-export business.