2 Teens Charged in Playground Acid Spill

The Associated Press

Tuesday, April 17, 2007; 1:34 PM

ESSEX, Md. -- Two teenagers were charged with breaking into a school and pouring an acidic drain cleaner on playground equipment that later burned a 2-year-old boy on a slide, Baltimore County police said Tuesday.

The two 16-year-old boys were charged Monday night with reckless endangerment and second-degree burglary and released to their parents, officials said.

A school resource officer learned about the first juvenile, which police said led them to the second, who was arrested later. Their names were not released.

The industrial strength drain cleaner, which has a high concentration of sulfuric acid, was removed from a storage facility at Victory Villa Elementary School and splashed over the school's playground equipment, police said.

The 2-year-old, Peyton Potochney, suffered second- and third-degree burns, mostly on his legs, after he went down a slide. His mother, Carol Duschl, has said the little boy likely will be hospitalized for several weeks.