Judge enters not guilty plea on behalf of teen charged in Pulaski-area bonfire explosion
SHAWANO (WLUK) – A not guilty plea was entered Wednesday for teen who allegedly tossed a barrel with gasoline and diesel on to a bonfire, causing an explosion which hurt more than a dozen people.
Sam Armstrong, 18, faces 13 counts of injury by negligent handling of explosives or fire for the Oct. 14 incident in Maple Grove, just outside of Pulaski.
Armstrong stood mute in court, meaning he did not enter any plea, so Judge Katherine Sloma entered a not guilty plea on his behalf, court records show. No trial date was set. Armstrong returns to court Dec. 6 for a pre-trial conference.
Armstrong is the second person charged in the case. A 16-year-old who assisted Armstrong was prosecuted in juvenile court, and was ordered to perform 40 hours of community service.
According to the criminal complaint, police responded to the Cedar Drive address after multiple teens were admitted to local hospitals after the explosion.
When police talked to Armstrong, he said he had been asking someone who lives at the house “all night to throw the barrel in the fire and finally at approximately 10:50 pm, (that person) told him to "just do it."
“After the barrel was thrown onto the fire, it was approximately half a second and the fire began shooting out. (Armstrong) indicated he backed away from the firepit and then went over to put the fire out that was burning VICTIM #4,” the complaint states.
After the fire was out, several people assaulted Armstong, he said.
“Armstrong was asked about his alcohol consumption. He stated he consumed approximately 6 drinks. He indicated he was drinking Bush (sic) Light,” the complaint states.
The complaint then details accounts from some of the others at the party.
“Upon (the juvenile who charged) dropping the drum, Samuel Armstrong took his end of the drum and threw it into the flames of the fire. Instantaneously, I felt a really high volume of heat on my face and observed a very large eruption of flame all around me. I then observed multiple people running from the area of the fire. Multiple people were actively burning,” one witness is quoted as saying.
The Shawano County Sheriff's Department has said at least 17 teenagers suffered burn injuries out of about 60 that were at the bonfire.