Man sues over fireworks injury

Fireworks that were supposed to launch into the sky instead shot horizontally into a Long Grove man, causing him to lose his eye, a lawsuit filed Wednesday said.

Anthony Meketa, 25, was injured when the Warhead Launcher he bought at a Beloit, Wis., store shot into his eye in Long Grove on Dec. 22, 2005, his attorney said. The fireworks were apparently set off at a celebration to honor a visiting relative.

In the lawsuit, Meketa accuses the store of not only knowingly selling him the fireworks without warning him they could malfunction but also says Phantom Fireworks of Wisconsin illegally sold him the item even after he flashed his Illinois driver's license.

Illinois bans fireworks.

Meketa had to have surgery to remove his left eye after the incident and lost work at his real estate company as a result of his injuries, attorney Peter Polansky said.

"This thing went around in the opposite direction and hit him in the eye while he was in the garage," Polansky said.

The lawsuit filed in Cook County circuit court targets the store, its parent company and the manufacturer and distributor of the fireworks.

The fireworks companies were negligent in selling the Warhead Launcher and its launching pad since they were aware consumers were being injured by its defective design, the suit said.

Meketa is seeking at least $50,000 in damages.

Phone calls seeking comment from Phantom Fireworks and its parent company, B.J. Alan Co. Inc., of Ohio, weren't returned Thursday.