A Florida teen is accused of intentionally setting his friend on fire, throwing gasoline on the boy as their other friends laughed and filmed the horrifying prank.
Bradey Ming, 17, was arrested for felony aggravated battery after footage surfaced of the incident on Kauffman Island in the middle of Lake Kerr, Fla. on Jan. 11, according to Fox 35 Orlando.
The four friends were sitting around a bonfire and drinking alcohol on the island when Ming began “messing” with a gas can.
Ming was seen dousing the fire with the gasoline, causing the flames to shoot up in the air, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office alleged, according to cell phone footage obtained by the outlet.
Laughter can be heard in the background as Ming asks the group a disturbing question.
“Do you want to be on fire?” Ming asked.
The other teens urged the burning boy to jump into the nearby lake so as to extinguish the fire.
The back of both the teen’s legs, arms and hands suffered burns, the outlet reported.
He was flown to the UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville and admitted into the pediatrics ICU, where doctors diagnosed him with second-degree burns on his right hand, leg and buttocks, according to WESH.
“Deep full-thickness burns” were also found on the lower parts of both legs and his left thigh.
The unidentified teen initially told his mother that he was throwing a bottle of gasoline at a fire when it burst into flames in his hand, but the boy’s father found the video of Ming and contacted the sheriff’s office, Fox 35 reported.
The teen lied to his parents because Ming told him not to tell anyone what happpened, with the victim adding the incident is hard to talk about.
The boy said he was “cool” with Ming after his hospitalization, the outlet reported, citing arrest records.
A witness who gave “an accurate depiction of what occurred” confirmed to police that Ming had chased the teen, adding that the friend group built a bonfire because it was cold and that Ming used the gasoline to ignite the fire.
The witness argued that none of Ming’s actions were done maliciously and there had been no argument between the group before the incident.
Ming turned himself over to the police after hugging his weeping mom in a parking lot, according to video of his arrest.
