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Prank turns criminal for Seeley-Swan high schoolers
By The Associated Press
MISSOULA -- What started out as a prank will turn criminal this week for two Seeley-Swan High School students accused of lighting a classmate on fire.
Andrew Matthew, 18, will be charged Thursday with accountability to arson and accountability to aggravated assault, both felonies, for allegedly splashing gasoline on Colton Dunlap's legs March 10 during shop class.
Chance Hulett, 16, is accused of lighting Dunlap's legs with a lighter. But because he's a juvenile, he will appear in youth court with a probation officer before he can be charged criminally.
Hulett's court appearance has not yet been scheduled, Chief Deputy County Attorney Karen Townsend said.
The teens told authorities they intended to play a practical joke on Dunlap, and expected the flames to die out after the initial burst, court records state. Instead, the gas exploded into 5-foot-high flames and almost engulfed Dunlap.
The 15-year-old was treated for first-, second- and three-third burns at an area hospital.
Dunlap told authorities that he, Matthew and Hulett were friends, and had been working on a snowmobile engine the morning of the incident.
Dunlap told authorities that as he turned to walk away from the group, he felt a splash of liquid on his legs and saw "flames shooting up all around him." Dunlap started running around the classroom until another student tackled him and smothered the flames.
Mark Darrow, the industrial arts teacher at the high school, told authorities the boys told him the fire was an accident, and that the gas came squirting out of a fuel line on the snowmobile and was ignited by a spark from the firing cylinders.
Prank turns criminal for Seeley-Swan high schoolers
By The Associated Press
MISSOULA -- What started out as a prank will turn criminal this week for two Seeley-Swan High School students accused of lighting a classmate on fire.
Andrew Matthew, 18, will be charged Thursday with accountability to arson and accountability to aggravated assault, both felonies, for allegedly splashing gasoline on Colton Dunlap's legs March 10 during shop class.
Chance Hulett, 16, is accused of lighting Dunlap's legs with a lighter. But because he's a juvenile, he will appear in youth court with a probation officer before he can be charged criminally.
Hulett's court appearance has not yet been scheduled, Chief Deputy County Attorney Karen Townsend said.
The teens told authorities they intended to play a practical joke on Dunlap, and expected the flames to die out after the initial burst, court records state. Instead, the gas exploded into 5-foot-high flames and almost engulfed Dunlap.
The 15-year-old was treated for first-, second- and three-third burns at an area hospital.
Dunlap told authorities that he, Matthew and Hulett were friends, and had been working on a snowmobile engine the morning of the incident.
Dunlap told authorities that as he turned to walk away from the group, he felt a splash of liquid on his legs and saw "flames shooting up all around him." Dunlap started running around the classroom until another student tackled him and smothered the flames.
Mark Darrow, the industrial arts teacher at the high school, told authorities the boys told him the fire was an accident, and that the gas came squirting out of a fuel line on the snowmobile and was ignited by a spark from the firing cylinders.
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