Man who bet friends to set him on fire won't face charges
William Bonner set himself on fire during a bet early Friday morning. (WRDW-TV / July 23, 2012)
News 12 at 11 o'clock / Monday, July 23, 2012
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A Thomson man is out of the hospital after he was set on fire.
"What I always say is nothing surprises me anymore," said Bryan Birmingham, who owns Allie Katz, the bar where William Bonner was set on fire early Friday morning. "Anytime you mix alcohol with someone just being stupid, bad things are going to happen."
However, the "someone just being stupid" Birmingham is talking about is actually Bonner himself.
"There was some sort of a bet made that he could set himself on fire, set his face on fire," said Lt. Blaise Dresser with the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.
Needless to say, Bonner won the bet, albeit not on the first try.
"He tried a couple times before that just lighting his bare head on fire, nothing happened, so he sent his friend over to the bar to buy a shot of 151, which he then poured over his head while another friend lit it," Birmingham explained.
Deputies got involved because they initially heard Bonner was in a fight during which someone criminally lit him on fire. Surveillance video shows that's not the case.
"He wanted this done, He actually bet the people that he could do this," Dresser said.
And because of his willingness, no one will face charges.
"We think he's caused himself enough trouble," Dresser explained.
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