Teens Harm Plainfield Boy With Makeshift Blowtorch
(CBS) – A 14-year-old Plainfield boy is recovering after he was attacked over the weekend by three teens with a makeshift blowtorch.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports.
Julie Johnson is careful not to aggravate the severe second-degree burns on her son's arm.
Two days after being torched by hairspray and a lighter, the burns were healing, slowly.
It happened Saturday afternoon. Sean Johnson and his friend Caleb Fleming were walking through Plainfields's West Norman Greenway park when they say three teenaged boys were literally playing with fire and challenged them to a dare. They were seeing who could hold their hand the longest near the flame.
"We didn't say anything, we just kept on walking," Caleb says.
They walked about 100 yards. That's when they say the three came up behind them and lit the aerosol spray. Caleb says the troublemakers may have only been trying to scare his friend.
Whether intentional or not, Plainfield police are taking the matter seriously and are looking for the teens.
"It's something very unusual. It's nothing we've ever seen here in Plainfield," Plainfield Police Chief John Konopek says.