Teens charged for setting student’s hair on fire on bus

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Three Middletown High School students have been charged for setting another student’s hair on fire while riding a school bus last week.

A 15-year-old freshman has been charged with aggravated menacing, a 17-year-old junior has been charged with aggravated menacing and assault and another 17-year-old junior has been charged with obstructing official business in connection to an alleged assault on 15-year-old Devin Lewis police Sgt. Jim Cunningham told The Middletown Journal.

Lewis told the newspaper that he was listening to music on the bus on Friday afternoon when someone pulled off his hood, and a male student held a flame in front of his face, making him jerk his head back. That’s when another male student lit his hair on fire.

Other students came to Lewis’ aid, extinguishing the flames, but his hair was left charred and he had to get a haircut over the weekend.  

The three teens charged in the incident have a history with police and were on probation at the time of the incident, according to Cunningham. They are being held at a juvenile detention center. A spokeswoman for Middletown City Schools told the newspaper that the students have also been suspended for 10 days and will undergo an expulsion hearing.