After-market video game device may have contributed to burning of Farmington Hills bo

February 27th, 2008, 17:17 Posted By: wraggster

Investigators said today an after-market charging device could have played a role in overheating a hand-held video game system that burned a 12-year-old Farmington Hills boy.


Sheilah Clay, whose son Harold is recovering from second-degree burns in the Feb. 6 incident, said the family has retained an attorney. She said representatives from Sony and Pelican Accessories, the company that makes the charger, will be in Michigan in the coming weeks to inspect the device. The Clays have not filed a lawsuit. Clay declined to give the name of their attorney.

“We’re just trying to figure out what happened,” said Sheilah Clay, who is a member of the Farmington Public Schools’ Board of Education. “That’s all we’re focusing on. I want to get the word out to other parents so we can avoid another child being hurt.”

Lt. Denny Hughes of the Farmington Hills Fire Department said today he device was turned over to the Clays’ attorney. He said investigators haven’t identified a specific cause for the Sony PSP overheating, but said the charging unit — which the Clays bought to replace the original one after it was misplaced — likely played a role.

“I think it overheated the unit by overcharging it,” Hughes said.

Sheilah Clay said her son, who is in the seventh grade, is back in school and playing on the basketball team but has a lot of pain when the burns on his left thigh are cleaned. The device was in his pocket when it overheated.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said there have been no recalls of the Sony PSP, is also looking into the incident.

Officials from Sony and Pelican did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...EWS03/80226047

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