GREENFIELD — Eight students were arrested after a fight broke out at Greenfield High School Monday morning, according to Greenfield Police Chief Robert Haigh.
Haigh said all eight students, ranging in age from 14 to 18, were directly involved in the fight, but said the cause of the fight is still under investigation. He said there were no injuries to report.
“Our school resource officer will be working in conjunction with the school administration to follow up with anything involving this incident,” he said.
However, Principal Donna Woodcock said the altercation was between just two students before school hours and declined to say how the other six got involved, calling it a police matter.
“There was a confrontation between two students and that was it. There wasn’t eight students having some type of brawl here this morning,” she said Monday.
According to a report by School Resource Officer Richard Brook, Brook received word at 7:45 a.m. that there was a fight outside the building near the school’s new track area. He wrote school had just started and students were in the hallways, heading to class, but some went to watch the fight once word spread.
According to the report, Brook and Associate Principal Thomas Gaffigan went to the doors closest to the fight to keep the involved parties from coming back into the building and were advised by a teacher that those involved had dispersed.
Brook wrote he began to head toward the main office when he saw 18-year-old Benjamin Rodriguez, one of the involved students, walking toward him, and advised Rodriguez to go to the office.
“He was resistant and tried to push past me,” Brook wrote.
According to the report, Brook was able to get Rodriguez into the office, where another student involved in the fight was arguing with staff members, refusing to stay seated and had allegedly assaulted a staff member.
When Brook advised the student — he was not named in the report because he is a minor — that he was under arrest, the student began to come at him and a struggle ensued as Brook attempted to place him in handcuffs, according to police.
The two began to roll around on the ground and Brook was not able to gain control until he placed the student in a rear choke hold, according to the report.
As the struggle was taking place, Brook wrote he felt someone grab him from behind and squeeze, and he began having trouble breathing.
The subject, identified as Rodriguez, was pulled off Brook by Gaffigan and another staff member and continued to scream, push and claw as the two tried to hold him back, according to the report.
“Both men were (having) trouble keeping him from attacking me again,” Brook wrote.
During this time, a staff member called 911 and both students were placed into custody, according to the report.
Other officers began to arrive and were advised that there was a group of students in the office that may have been involved in the fight.
“At this point, several other officers were in the room with us and put the rest of the students up against the wall,” Brook wrote.
During the investigation of the incident, eight students were arrested, according to a news release from the Police Department. Two students were arrested on charges of assault and battery on school officials, one of which also was charged with resisting arrest and the second one, Rodriguez. was also charged with assault and battery on a police officer. All eight students were charged with disturbing a school while is session.
They were not named in public reports because they are minors. State law forbids police from releasing the names of juveniles accused of crimes.
The students were transported to the Police Department for booking and then custody was transferred to the Franklin County Juvenile Court for arraignment. Rodriguez was arraigned in Greenfield District Court Monday.
When asked whether the students had been suspended or expelled, Woodcock said she could not comment. However, she said the school day went on as usual.
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