[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Jet

Shit like this makes me really angry. WTF is up with people?

Boy Hit By Balloon Filled With Bleach May Lose Sight In Eye


Posted By - Kevin Rowson
Last Updated On: 5/27/2010 11:05:09 PM

LILBURN, GA -- Throwing water balloons on a hot summer day can be fun. But a water balloon filled with bleach thrown at a 14-year old boy from a passing car is an assault according to police.

The balloon hit Lilburn Middle School student Miguel Mesa right in the face. His right eye is bloodshot and black and blue. His left eye is covered with a bandage and Mesa said it is much worse.

He looks like he went 12 rounds with a heavyweight contender. "It hit me right in the eyes," Mesa said. "I thought I broke my nose, but then I felt my eyes were like burning."

Mesa, Juan Rivera and Oscar Rodriguez are students at Lilburn Middle School. Wednesday was their last day of school before summer vacation. Mesa said they chose to walk home from school rather than take the bus because they wanted to spend some time together.

The boys were walking on the sidewalk along Highway 29 when Rivera saw a gray minivan driving by with the side sliding door open. Rivera said he saw two teenagers in the front and one in the back. "I just heard Juan say they're throwing water balloons and I just looked up and (it hit me)," Mesa said. "I just fell down and it started bleeding and everything."

"At first I thought he was kidding around and then when I saw his eyes bleeding that's when I knew it was more than water," Rivera said.

Mesa's father wishes his son took the bus after getting a call at work from a Lilburn police officer. "I was praying my way to the hospital, actually thinking the worst," Severo Mesa said.

His son was transported by ambulance to Gwinnett Medical Center. "They (doctors) tell me that the Clorox really wasn't that much of a problem but the impact was," the boy said.

His father said his son will have an MRI on Friday to determine if he will ever see out of his left eye again. "What I was thinking is I would give my vision for his," the older Mesa said. "He's just beginning (his life) and I already lived half of my life."

There were several pieces of broken balloons along Highway 29 where Mesa was hit. The boys said the person in the back of the car was throwing balloons at other kids too.

Lilburn police are hoping someone knows the teenagers in the gray mini-van. I hope the police do everything they can to find them because it's a crime," Rivera said. "My friend could be blind by now but thanks to God he's not."

Severo Mesa said even if it was a prank, the teens need to be punished. "Anything we do has consequences," he said. "I believe they will have to deal with those consequences sooner or later."

"Lilburn police are seeking information from the public on the location of the van as well as the identity of the suspects involved in the incident," said Captain Bruce Hedley.

He said the gray minivan had a black stripe on the lower portion of the vehicle.

Ditto. What idiots.