LONGMEADOW, Mass. — Two juveniles have been indicted on multiple charges each after they reportedly poured acid onto slides at a playground at a park in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, earlier this summer, officials said.
Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said a Hampden County grand jury has indicted two juveniles where acid was poured onto multiple slides at Bliss Park in Longmeadow on June 11. As a result of this incident over the summer, four children were injured.
The two juveniles have each been charged with four counts of assault and battery on a child with injury, four counts of assault and battery with dangerous weapon and battery, The Associated Press reported.
Police and fire crews were called out to the park in June about a suspicious substance on the playground equipment, according to the AP. Around the same time, other fire crews and medical personnel were at a house in the area treating a child with burns who just left the same park.
Investigators learned that someone had broken into a storage room by the park where swimming pool chemicals are stored, the AP said. Muriatic acid was stolen. This acid is used to manage the pool’s pH balance.
It was found that the muriatic acid was poured onto multiple slides at the parks, officials said, according to the AP.
“The Longmeadow Police Department and Longmeadow Fire Department along with my office’s Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit did a remarkable job in investigating this shocking and terrible incident. I would like to thank Assistant District Attorney Curtis Frick, Juvenile Court Chief, for his committed and skilled work in bringing this case forward. Our collective effort to charge those we believe are responsible should make clear that protecting this community’s children is among our highest priorities. Whether the threat and harm caused were intended as pranks or malicious acts, it will not be tolerated,” Gulluni said in a statement.
The DA’s office said that the Longmeadow Police Department worked with the Longmeadow Police Department that was assigned to their office on this investigation.
The names of the juveniles have not and will not be released because of their age, according to the AP. The extent of the children’s injuries has not been released.
