Girl’s hair on fire leads to arrest

A student set another student’s hair on fire with a cigarette lighter at East Valley High School on Tuesday, police said Wednesday.

The 17-year-old suspect was arrested after staff called police. The boy was sitting behind a 16-year-old girl when she noticed a “weird smell” and discovered her hair on fire, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.

The boy patted her head and said “it’s not that bad,” and she pulled clumps of burned hair away.

One student told police the boy used a cigarette lighter, “igniting her hair into flames that were several inches high,” according to the news release.

The girl did not need medical treatment.

The boy was arrested on one count of felony second-degree assault and booked into Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center.