POSTED: 10:25 AM PST November 21, 2003

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Police arrested a man who allegedly poured bleach on a sleeping couple after breaking into their home.

Joseph Lee Menzel, 32, was charged with burglary of an occupied home and two counts of battery for the attack on Sean and Christine Austin.

According to a sheriff's report, Menzel pried open a rear window of the home and emptied a bottle of bleach on the Austins while they were lying in bed on July 5. Both suffered burns, but no permanent damage.

"How can you forget something like that?" Christine Austin, 31, said Thursday. "We woke up when the bleach was being poured on us. Yeah, it was a pretty horrible experience."

Menzel was arrested Wednesday after Sean Austin, 32, told police he was having an affair with Menzel's wife. Deputies also found Menzel's fingerprints on a window.

"The accused definitely had motive," Charlotte County Sheriff's Office Cpl. Robert Stambaugh wrote in his report, because "the victim had an affair with his wife."

Menzel was released from the county jail on $75,000 bail. It could not be determined whether he had an attorney.