Adult, 2 Teens Charged In Connection With Serious Fireworks Injury

SOMERS, CT — Three people, including a pair of juveniles, have been arrested in connection with a Fourth of July mishap at a Springfield Road house, in which a teenage girl was struck in the chest and severely burned by a firework.

Robert Chester, 55, of Enfield, was charged Friday on a warrant with illegal sale of fireworks without a permit, four counts of risk of injury to a child and first-degree reckless endangerment. He was released after posting $5,000 bond, and is due to appear Nov. 1 in Rockville Superior Court.

While living in Somers in 2021, Chester unsuccessfully campaigned for a seat on the town's Board of Education.

Two boys, ages 16 and 15, were charged in September with illegal possession of exploding fireworks, third-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangerment. They both have appearances scheduled this month in Rockville juvenile court.

According to a 14-page affidavit supporting the arrests, Chester and one of the arrested teens had purchased fireworks in New Hampshire, which were then brought to the Fourth of July party at the home of another teen whose parents were away in Rhode Island for the weekend.

A total of 11 teens were in attendance at the unsupervised party, with alcohol consumption and the shooting off of fireworks among the activities taking place. Police found beer, vodka, Twisted Tea and various nip bottles at the scene, according to the affidavit.

As fireworks were being shot into the night sky, a mortar tube containing a shell fell over, causing it to fire directly into the teenage girl's chest. She sustained first- and second-degree burns, and was helped at the scene by other teens who sprayed her down with a hose from the kitchen faucet before she was taken by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, according to the affidavit.

Another teen received minor burns on his neck, shoulder and forearm, but declined to be taken to a hospital, according to the affidavit.

The girl, who told investigators, "Apparently I was on fire," spent 14 days in the burn unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, and is facing at least two more surgeries on her wounds, according to the affidavit.