Long Island Boy Burned After Riding Bike Onto Paving Site Filled With Hot Tar, Family Says

There were no barriers or warning signs around the site, the family says

An 11-year-old Long Island boy was badly burned when he rode his bicycle into a street filled with hot tar that had no warning signs, his family alleges.

Public work crews were repaving the area at Tillie and Brooke streets in the town of Islip Wednesday afternoon, and there were no signs or barriers around the site, the boy's mother claims. 

The boy, David Jordan, said he thought the tar was dry and as he rode over it, his bicycle got stuck and he fell onto the scorching asphalt mix. 

"My bike got caught up and flipped over, and I hit my knee," he said. 

Jordan was badly burned on his hand and leg, and went to the hospital with second-degree burns. He has gauze bandages on his hand and leg and has trouble sleeping, he said. 

"Last night, the way he slept, he kept moaning in his sleep," said his mother, Nakita Jordan. "As his mother, as a mother, am I going to be able to sleep listening to my son in pain? With blisters on his leg and hand?" 

Nakita Jordan shot cellphone video after the accident purportedly showing no warning signs around the project, She said the public works crew didn't check on her son, and it was neighbors who swooped in to help, including one couple who put water over the boy's burn wounds. 

"Very kind, good people and I thank God for them," she said. 

Family attorney Kenneth Mollins said the Jordans are considering legal action against the town. 

"Putting down asphalt knowing the temperature is so high, and not cordoning off the area, forcing people away goes to a greater degree of negligence than just plain unreasonableness," said Mollins. 

In a statement, Islip Public Works Commissioner Thomas Owens said the paving work was done by a vendor who assured the town that "all of the appropriate and required safety measures were met and monitored."

Owens added that the town sent notices about the project to residents in the area, and that a town paving supervisor was also on site. 

"The town regrets the unfortunate injuries that this child sustained, and wish him a speedy recovery," said Owens, adding that the town is continuing to investigate.  

Nakita Jordan said she hopes the town will be more cautious.

"This is a neighborhood children live in," she said. 

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