Molotov Cocktail Burns Teen-Ager in Gang Attack
A 17-year-old gang member was listed in fair condition Tuesday after his shirt was set ablaze by an exploding Molotov cocktail thrown from a passing car, Burbank police said.
The youth was talking on a pay phone at Buena Vista Street and Victory Boulevard about 9:30 p.m. Monday when a car with several rival gang members pulled up next to him, Sgt. Don Goldberg said.
An argument followed and a passenger leaned out and hurled a Molotov cocktail at the victim that exploded in flames, Goldberg said.
A friend of the victim who was inside a nearby convenience store smothered the flames with a jacket, Goldberg said.
The youth suffered first- and second-degree burns on his face, upper chest and back, said a spokeswoman for Sherman Oaks Community Hospital.
The youth admitted to police that he was a gang member, and that the men in the car were members of a rival gang, Goldberg said.
No arrests have been made, he said.
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