MARION COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — Play with fire, and you might get burned—or end up in handcuffs. That’s what happened to two Marion County teens after one was burned and the other arrested for allegedly setting his friend on fire.
According to an arrest affidavit from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, on January 26, investigators responded to UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville after receiving reports of a teen allegedly being set on fire by another teen. At the hospital, investigators made contact with the juvenile victim and the victim’s mom.
The teen victim had initially lied about what transpired, stating that he had caught fire from a water bottle that contained gasoline. The parents had found out what had actually transpired after they found a video that contradicted what the teen had said.
MCSO’s arrest report says the victim told investigators that on January 10, he, the suspect, and two other teenage boys traveled by Jet Ski on Lake Kerr to Kauffman’s Island. The teens brought a gas cannister with them and began drinking alcohol.
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The arrest report says the victim told law enforcement that he was sitting about 10 feet away from the fire before the incident occurred.
Video from the incident shows the teen suspect carrying a canister of gasoline, while another teen records. The suspect is then seen pouring gasoline onto a large bonfire. A moment later, the suspect pours more gasoline onto the fire and the adjacent sand, creating a trail of fire. Laughter can be heard throughout the video.
When the suspect throws more gasoline onto the fire, flames shoot toward the victim, setting him on fire.
“Get in the lake, get in the lake,” one of the teens can be heard saying through laughter. The video shows the victim running into the lake to extinguish the flames, with the lower half of his clothing appearing to be burned off.
WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO, VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED
Following the incident, the teen told investigators that the teen boys took the Jet Ski to one of their homes before deciding to go to the hospital, the arrest report says. The juvenile victim told law enforcement that he and the suspect were friendly with each other, so he was confused about why he would set him on fire. In the arrest report, the victim said that, before being set on fire, he remembered the juvenile suspect allegedly asking, “Do you want to be set on fire?”
Investigators asked the victim why he initially lied about what had transpired, to which he said the teen suspect didn’t want him to say anything about the incident.
The arrest report says the teen had sustained a second-degree burn on the right hand, bottom, right leg, and left thigh.
After speaking with the victim, investigators traveled to Kauffman Island, where they found remnants of a campfire and the clear gas can that was depicted in the video, the sheriff’s office says.
The arrest report states that investigators attempted to interview the juvenile suspect and his mother, but they declined to speak without an attorney present.
Deputy body camera video dated January 29, shows the teen suspect, 17, hugging a crying woman before he’s arrested and placed in the back of a police cruiser.
The teen is facing a charge of bodily harm or causing a disability.
date: 2026-02-07 22:46:00