Surlyfritz209
08-21-2001, 18:21
St. Paul police search for man who set 16-year-old boy on fire
Heron Marquez Estrada
Star Tribune
Tuesday, August 21, 2001
A 16-year-old boy suffered severe burns to his legs after being set on fire by a stranger Sunday near the Wilder Recreation Center in St. Paul.
Armando Hughes, identified by friends and relatives as the victim, was in fair condition Monday night at Regions Hospital in St. Paul with second-and third-degree burns.
Police said four teenagers were sitting on a bench at the center, near the intersection of Case Av. and Edgerton St., when a man in his late 50s or 60s approached them about 9:30 p.m.
"The white male said some words to the juveniles and then without provocation, he threw a flammable liquid from a jug on them," said police spokesman Michael Jordan.
After one of the boys struck the man, the suspect used a cigarette lighter to ignite the fluid on the ground, Jordan said.
"He was crazy," said Nicholas Redmond, 14.
Redmond was with the victim on the Wilder playground when the man approached.
Redmond said the teenagers had seen the man in an alley talking to some young men about 20 minutes before he approached them. The man, who they did not know, was carrying a crate with two pickle jars.
"He said, 'Are you the guys who burned me?'" Redmond said Monday afternoon. After looking at them and determining they were not the ones, the man asked if they wanted to see some fireworks.
"He said, 'You won't be disappointed,'" Redmond recalled.
At that point, Hughes told the man to shut up and leave. As the boy got up to make him go, the suspect threw the contents of the crate and jars at him, said Hughes' cousin, Jermaine Mitchem, 13.
"My cousin started hitting him and all of a sudden my cousin went up in flames," said Mitchem, who is visiting Hughes from Kansas City.
"He had a lighter in his hand and then Armando went up in flames," Redmond said.
Redmond said the man, described as being about 5-feet, 6-inches and weighing about 130 pounds, looked homeless or dirty. Police said the man had long white or blond hair that he wore in a ponytail. He was wearing a black and red plaid long-sleeved shirt and dark colored shorts.
Hughes rolled on the ground to put out the flames, Redmond said. Mitchem also used his shirt to help extinguish the flames.
"His legs are pretty bad," Redmond said.
Mario Strong, 17, was also present in the park. He said that he visited Hughes Monday and that doctors expected him to be hospitalized for three or four weeks.
Heron Marquez Estrada
Star Tribune
Tuesday, August 21, 2001
A 16-year-old boy suffered severe burns to his legs after being set on fire by a stranger Sunday near the Wilder Recreation Center in St. Paul.
Armando Hughes, identified by friends and relatives as the victim, was in fair condition Monday night at Regions Hospital in St. Paul with second-and third-degree burns.
Police said four teenagers were sitting on a bench at the center, near the intersection of Case Av. and Edgerton St., when a man in his late 50s or 60s approached them about 9:30 p.m.
"The white male said some words to the juveniles and then without provocation, he threw a flammable liquid from a jug on them," said police spokesman Michael Jordan.
After one of the boys struck the man, the suspect used a cigarette lighter to ignite the fluid on the ground, Jordan said.
"He was crazy," said Nicholas Redmond, 14.
Redmond was with the victim on the Wilder playground when the man approached.
Redmond said the teenagers had seen the man in an alley talking to some young men about 20 minutes before he approached them. The man, who they did not know, was carrying a crate with two pickle jars.
"He said, 'Are you the guys who burned me?'" Redmond said Monday afternoon. After looking at them and determining they were not the ones, the man asked if they wanted to see some fireworks.
"He said, 'You won't be disappointed,'" Redmond recalled.
At that point, Hughes told the man to shut up and leave. As the boy got up to make him go, the suspect threw the contents of the crate and jars at him, said Hughes' cousin, Jermaine Mitchem, 13.
"My cousin started hitting him and all of a sudden my cousin went up in flames," said Mitchem, who is visiting Hughes from Kansas City.
"He had a lighter in his hand and then Armando went up in flames," Redmond said.
Redmond said the man, described as being about 5-feet, 6-inches and weighing about 130 pounds, looked homeless or dirty. Police said the man had long white or blond hair that he wore in a ponytail. He was wearing a black and red plaid long-sleeved shirt and dark colored shorts.
Hughes rolled on the ground to put out the flames, Redmond said. Mitchem also used his shirt to help extinguish the flames.
"His legs are pretty bad," Redmond said.
Mario Strong, 17, was also present in the park. He said that he visited Hughes Monday and that doctors expected him to be hospitalized for three or four weeks.