Arlington Man Sets Crotch On Fire, Sues Vape Shop Over Exploding E-Cig Battery
PANTEGO (CBSDFW.COM) - The pain may be gone, but the scars and troubles still linger for an Arlington man burned by an exploding e-cigarette battery.
Now, David Powell of Arlington, is suing the store he bought that battery from, Vixen Vapors, in Pantego.
In the lawsuit, he said sparks were quote, "shooting from his crotch area," when the lithium battery exploded in his front pocket.
"It burnt me from about here down on both sides," said Powell.
He is finally able to wear pants again after severely burning his thighs and scrotum.
Pictures taken a month after the battery exploded in his pocket show the injuries he sustained.
"It was very painful. The worst pain I have ever felt," said Powell.
The former marine and family man said he had the spare e-cigarette battery in his pocket and was out celebrating his daughter's birthday in August when all of a sudden the battery began sparking.
"I ran inside. I took off my pants and tried jumping in the shower to wash off the lithium and the chemicals."
But it didn't help.
Powell spent four days in Parkland Hospital's burn unit. Now he's lawyered up and looking to sue Vixen Vapors and get answers as to why this happened.
"How did the manufacturer get the product on the shelves at Vixen Vapors?" asked Jim Ross, Powell's attorney.
Ross says they've been able to trace the battery manufacturers to China and he is pushing for accountability from the people who sold it.
"You have a duty to protect people and warn people of those dangerous products," said Ross.
Powell's lawsuit is for a minimum of one million dollars and is said to cover Powell's lost work wages and his medical bills, among other things.
Jason Amon, the attorney representing Vixen Vapors, released this statement to CBS 11:
"Vixen Vapors is committed to producing and selling the highest-quality e-cigarette products, and we work hard to educate our customers on their proper use and storage. We believe that if a product is defective, then its manufacturer should take responsibility. We didn't make the battery involved in this case, though, and it's not clear that we sold it, either. Nevertheless, as soon as we learned that there was an incident, we immediately began working on displays for all of our locations to address the situation."
