Teen injured after setting own 
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After setting his shorts on fire to prove his courage, a Roselle teen ended up at Sherman Hospital in Elgin Saturday suffering from second-degree burns, police said.
The 16-year-old Roselle boy and two friends - a Roselle 16-year-old and an Elgin 15-year-old - smeared their shorts with gasoline around 10 p.m. Saturday and took turns lighting each other in the back yard of an Elgin home, Elgin police said.
Then they would drop down to the ground, roll and attempt to extinguish themselves, Elgin police said.
"They continued to do this for three rounds," said Elgin officer Mike Sullivan. "The shorts were drenched in so much gasoline that they were unable to extinguish it anymore. To the best of our understanding, it was some kind of a challenge."
The Roselle teen suffered second degree burns from his waist down, Sullivan said. He was treated and released. No charges were filed.
"Each one of them participated by their own free will," Sullivan said. "Being totally stupid is not a crime."
Submitted on 09/26/2002
Submitted by:
Jim Becker
Reference:
Daily Herald - Sep 23, 2002
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