Shot in the Eye by a Spudzooka

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (CN) - A student says he was walloped in the eye by a spudzooka, and his Production Technology teacher at Wauconda High School is to blame. Andrew Petrenko says he was wounded in class by a "potato launcher."

Petrenko says he was a sophomore when his teacher, Timothy Rennels, pumped air into a potato launcher to fire wooden cylinders into a cardboard box. The experiment was "demonstrating pneumatic pressure," according to the complaint in Lake County Court.

The second launch from the "air cannon" propelled a cylinder that "ricocheted off a table" and cracked Petrenko in his right eye.

The student says Rennels "failed to look at, see and observe the potential outcome" of discharging a weapon in the classroom. He sued Wauconda High School, District 118 and Rennels.

Petrenko seeks more than $50,000 in damages for negligence. He is represented by Robert Arnold of Palatine, Ill.

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