Clevelander was cooking meth, caught legs on fire, police say, is charged with arson. Kevin Hufford burned his legs and feet when the meth he was cooking exploded in a home on Burger Street in Old Brooklyn. (Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department)
John Harper, cleveland.com
By John Harper, cleveland.com
on June 17, 2016 at 11:11 AM, updated June 17, 2016 at 6:30 PM
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland man was hospitalized and later charged with arson and drug trafficking after the methamphetamine he was cooking in an Old Brooklyn attic exploded burning his legs and feet, according to court records.
Kevin Hufford, 23, was indicted Wednesday and is charged with drug manufacturing, chemical possession with intent to manufacture drugs and drug possession in the incident.
Three others — Frank Hufford, 27, Bruce Laforce, 32, and Amanda Morgan, 32 — are also charged in the meth operation.
A neighbor in the same 4500 block of Burger Street called police June 2 after hearing an explosion coming from the attic. He said he also saw someone throw a blow torch out the upstairs window.
Kevin Hufford suffered severe burns to his legs and feet, prosecutors say, and was treated at MetroHealth before being booked into county jail.
Both Frank and Kevin Hufford, as well as Laforce, have criminal records in the county. Kevin Hufford was sentenced to a 180 day county jail sentence after violating probation in a 2013 breaking and entering case.
Frank Hufford, of Oakwood Village, has twice been convicted on domestic violence charges and was convicted of drug possession in 2011.
Laforce was indicted earlier this month on a charge of meth possession and pleaded guilty in a 2011 burglary incident.
Amanda Morgan's parents owns the house where prosecutors say the meth explosion took place, Joe Frolik, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said. She is charged with drug possession and permitting drug abuse.
The home was boarded up as a nuisance and will be cleaned, Frolik said.