Plainfield Teen Burnt with Hairspray and Lighter

Photos courtesy of Julie Johnson

A 14-year-old Plainfield North High School freshman is suffering from severe second-degree burns after he was assaulted Saturday, Aug 15 while walking through Norman Greenway Park in Plainfield.

Sean Johnson and his friend Caleb Fleming were walking on the trail at around 5:45 p.m. when they saw three boys on a jungle gym. According to Johnson’s mother, Julie, the boys called out to them and asked if they wanted to a play a game with fire.

Sean and Caleb didn’t respond and kept walking, Johnson said. But the boys had run up behind them and burned Sean’s arm using hairspray and a lighter.

Johnson said Caleb then pushed the kid that burned Sean, but when Caleb went to help Sean, the boys ran off.

Sean was taken to the ER and received treatment for his burns. Despite the pain he’s going through, he’s a strong kid and didn’t let the incident stop him from attending school or football practice, his mom said.

As of now, police are investigating the incident.

Johnson described the boys as being older than Sean and believes they may be from a different area. Neither Sean nor Caleb knew the boys. Johnson said the boys were described as being around 5 ft. 8 in. or 5 ft. 9 in.

“One sort of had a little bit of longer blonde hair while the other two had short blonde hair,” Johnson said.

There have been people offering up gifts to Sean because of what he went through, Johnson said, but Sean’s been refusing to accept them. Instead, Sean told his mom that anybody that wants to buy him something can buy cookie dough for his football team. Email Julie at cleandugan@sbcglobal.net if you’re interested.

Despite what happened, Johnson said she’s glad it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

“If kids are fooling around with (lighters and hairspray), they have to understand how crazy dangerous it is,” she said. “I’m grateful it wasn’t worse.”

Plainfield Police Chief John Konopek confirmed Johnson’s description of the boys and said they’re investigating the incident.