A Minneapolis man was charged Friday with splashing battery acid on his ex-girlfriend's face after she refused to talk to him when he approached her on the street.

Jarso Yohannes Adem, 28, was charged with second-degree assault following the attack Tuesday in St. Louis Park. The woman's name and age were not released.

Adem was jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail.

According to charges:

Police were called to the 3700 block of Louisiana Avenue, where a woman said Adem demanded to talk to her. She refused, and he splashed battery acid on her from a bottle he held. Adem fled as the woman screamed.

Once located, Adem told police that he and the woman were once in a relationship, but she had distanced herself from him. He said he put the battery acid in a plastic bottle and intercepted the woman on her usual route home from school.

The woman suffered "significant blistering and redness on her face near the temple region and cheek, her left hand and neck behind the ear," the complaint said.

"A lot of these things just stun me, and I've been at this business awhile," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said. "A father breaking the ribs of his child. People assaulting their loved ones. Acid in someone's face. Driving over someone."

ABBY SIMONS AND PAUL WALSH