Five teenagers were charged with aggravated battery yesterday for dousing a 15-year-old with rubbing alcohol and setting him on fire because he stopped someone from stealing his father's bicycle, authorities said.

Michael Brewer was hospitalised with burns on more than three-quarters of his body after the attack at an apartment complex in Deerfield Beach on Monday.

The Broward County sheriff's office said in a news release that 15-year-olds Matthew Bent, Denver Jarvis, Steven Shelton and Jesus Mendez and 13-year-old Jeremy Jarvis were charged with aggravated battery.

Mendez was also charged with attempted second-degree murder because authorities say he flicked the lighter. The victim's brother-in-law, Danny Martinez, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that Brewer is in serious condition but doing OK.

He was burned on his torso and arms, sheriff's spokesman Jim Leljedal said. Family members said most of his hair, including his eyelashes, had also been burned off.

He refused to attend classes at Deerfield Beach Middle School on Monday because of the bicycle incident Sunday, authorities said.

Instead of going to school, Brewer went to the apartment complex to visit a friend. He told deputies that while he was sitting by the swimming pool, he was splashed with a flammable liquid and set ablaze.