Boy, 5, Loses Hand In Fireworks Accident, Man Charged

CHICAGO, IL — A 5-year-old boy lost his hand in an accident involving a "sparkler-type firework" on New Year's Day in Englewood, police said. A 37-year-old man was charged with child endangerment in the incident.

Police told ABC Chicago that officers responded to the 5600 block of South May Street around 6:50 p.m. and applied a tourniquet to the boy's left hand. He was taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where he was stabilized, but the hand could not be saved, police said.

Cardiel Phillips was charged with a misdemeanor count of endangering the life of a child and was cited with a municipal fireworks violation.

The Englewood incident was not the only fireworks accident over New Year's in Chicagoland.

In Oak Lawn, a man in his 20s also lost a hand in a New Year's Eve incident.

"It was pretty devastating," Oak Lawn Fire Chief Mike Mavrogeorge said. "His hand and wrist were completely destroyed."