A prank gone wrong left a Standish man with chemical burns on his hands, after an acquaintance at a party encased them in insulating foam early Sunday.

Cumberland County sheriff’s deputies charged another Standish man with aggravated assault, even though it appears there was no intent to hurt the victim.

Deputies were called to a house on Richville Road where people had been having a party. They found a 20-year-old man whose hands were badly burned, with blisters and skin rubbed off.

The man apparently had fallen asleep, or passed out, at 3:30 a.m. Officials said there were no indications in the reports that the man had been drinking.

While he was unconscious, Mitchell Lee Brown, 24, of Standish put the victim’s hands in a plastic bag and then sprayed foam insulation into the bag, coating the younger man’s hands, authorities said.

The substance, used to insulate spaces around outlet boxes or where wires enter a house, discharges as foam and then hardens.

The bag was taped around the man’s wrists, trapping the insulation.

When the man woke, he pulled the bag off and wiped the foam from his hands, but the damage was done. He was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland for treatment, authorities said.

Deputies interviewed Brown, who said he didn’t mean to hurt the other man. “It was intended to be a practical joke,” said Lt. Don Foss.

Brown was issued a summons to appear in Cumberland County’s Unified Criminal Court on a charge of aggravated assault. The charge, which is a felony, was aggravated because of the seriousness of the injury, said Capt. Don Goulet.

Brown could not be reached for comment.

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at: dhench@pressherald.com

 

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