An NYC Parks Department employee was arrested late Tuesday in connection with a fireworks incident that cost a 10-year-old girl some fingers on Staten Island earlier in the day, according to officials and a neighbor.
The 24-year-old employee was on duty at the time of the 6:45 p.m. accident in General Douglas MacArthur Park in Midland Beach, officials say.
The exact circumstances of the case weren’t immediately clear, but reports indicated the girl may have found the firework in a public restroom, and that the city employee may have helped the child light the explosive.
Police said her hand was mangled. It wasn’t clear how many fingers the girl lost.
She remained hospitalized as of early Wednesday afternoon, a neighbor who knows her and her mom said. According to the neighbor, a men’s baseball team who played on the park’s field Monday night allegedly lit fireworks. That’s how the little girl found the discarded one, she says.
For context, all consumer fireworks — sparklers, firecrackers, bottle rockets — are banned in every park across the five boroughs. Having, using, or lighting them in a park can result in tickets, fines up to $1,000, or charges.
The parks worker is charged with child endangerment and reckless endangerment.
The parks department couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.