VALRICO — A 14-year-old boy was taken to the hospital for alcohol poisoning Friday night after his uncle gave him grain alcohol, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
The uncle, Tyrone Hamilton Oliver, 38, of Valrico, was charged with assault and two counts of child abuse. This is what the Sheriff's Office says happened:
On Friday night, Oliver gave his nephew grain alcohol and cigarettes. Shortly after 11 p.m., the child's father returned home with his younger son.
Oliver asked the younger boy to hide his brother, who was passed out, in a bedroom so his father wouldn't find him. When the boy didn't obey, Oliver burned his leg with a cigarette.
The boys' father confronted Oliver, and Oliver charged and tried to fight him. The father pinned Oliver and was holding him down when sheriff's deputies arrived. Oliver told deputies that he gave the boy alcohol.
Paramedics took the teen to Brandon Regional Hospital. His blood-alcohol level was 0.267. A level of 0.3 can be lethal, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The boy was treated and discharged from the hospital today.
Oliver was booked into the Orient Road Jail and is being held without bond.
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