LG
02-19-2013, 03:00 AM
A drug-fueled celebration of a lottery win takes a disastrous twist, Wichita police report.
Lottery winners, don't try this at home.
Police in Wichita, Kan., say two brothers celebrating a $75,000 lottery win by lighting up with drugs on Friday accidentally set off an explosion that blew up their house.
The brothers decided to buy marijuana and meth with their lucky fortune from a scratch lottery ticket, police said. One of them went to the kitchen to refuel butane lighters to light their bongs, Sgt. Bruce Watts told The Wichita Eagle.
Some of the flammable gas leaked into the air.
"The butane vapor reached the pilot light in the furnace, and as you might expect, ka-boom," Watts told the newspaper.
"That took care of that celebration real fast, I guess," Mary Jewett, who lives in the same duplex with one of the men, told KWCH-TV.
She said the loud boom next door shook her kitchen and her child's bedroom.
The explosion sent one of the brothers — a 27-year-old — to the hospital for treatment of second-degree burns, the Eagle reported. The other brother was sent to jail, Watts said.
A woman at Via Christi St. Francis Hospital said Monday that the burn victim had been released, but she didn't have further details.
Media reports did not identify the brothers by name and no one was available Monday at the Wichita Police Department to provide additional details.
Both brothers face charges of drug possession, police told local media.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Lottery winners, don't try this at home.
Police in Wichita, Kan., say two brothers celebrating a $75,000 lottery win by lighting up with drugs on Friday accidentally set off an explosion that blew up their house.
The brothers decided to buy marijuana and meth with their lucky fortune from a scratch lottery ticket, police said. One of them went to the kitchen to refuel butane lighters to light their bongs, Sgt. Bruce Watts told The Wichita Eagle.
Some of the flammable gas leaked into the air.
"The butane vapor reached the pilot light in the furnace, and as you might expect, ka-boom," Watts told the newspaper.
"That took care of that celebration real fast, I guess," Mary Jewett, who lives in the same duplex with one of the men, told KWCH-TV.
She said the loud boom next door shook her kitchen and her child's bedroom.
The explosion sent one of the brothers — a 27-year-old — to the hospital for treatment of second-degree burns, the Eagle reported. The other brother was sent to jail, Watts said.
A woman at Via Christi St. Francis Hospital said Monday that the burn victim had been released, but she didn't have further details.
Media reports did not identify the brothers by name and no one was available Monday at the Wichita Police Department to provide additional details.
Both brothers face charges of drug possession, police told local media.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.