H.S. Attack Video Posted Online, Police Say
Accused Student Could Be Expelled From School
POSTED: 5:45 pm EDT April 1,
2008
UPDATED: 6:04 pm EDT April 1,
2008
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MANSFIELD, Mass. --
A Mansfield high school student was arrested after he allegedly assaulted a fellow student. Officials said part of the incident was captured by a cell phone camera and posted online.
H.S. Attack Caught On CameraNewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson reported that police and school officials said they're following a strict zero-tolerance policy on bullying.A 16-year-old student was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He was suspended from school and could be expelled.In the Mansfield High School cafeteria on Friday, a junior dumped a trash barrel on the head of an 18-year-old student eating lunch, police said. Another student captured the incident on a cell phone camera and sent the video to police."I'm just flabbergasted," Mansfield Police Chief Arthur O'Neill said.Police said the cell phone video was also posted on YouTube.com and was watched more than 1,000 times."The word was passed to dump all the trash in this one particular barrel, leave everything there, fill it up. And there was a video taken by another student, which is just too coincidental for this person to not know that this was going to happen," O'Neill said."One student believed that the other student had ratted him out on something," Mansfield School Superintendent Brenda Hodges said.Police said accusations of retaliation ramp up the charges."He was attacked under the premise that he was a witness for the police or the commonwealth. The commonwealth takes it very serious when their witnesses are intimidated or harassed or otherwise interfered with," O'Neill said."The person who posted the video took it to another level and that person certainly has a great responsibility and culpability in this," Hodges said.O'Neill said anyone involved in the attack could face an accessory charge.
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H.S. Attack Caught On CameraNewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson reported that police and school officials said they're following a strict zero-tolerance policy on bullying.A 16-year-old student was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He was suspended from school and could be expelled.In the Mansfield High School cafeteria on Friday, a junior dumped a trash barrel on the head of an 18-year-old student eating lunch, police said. Another student captured the incident on a cell phone camera and sent the video to police."I'm just flabbergasted," Mansfield Police Chief Arthur O'Neill said.Police said the cell phone video was also posted on YouTube.com and was watched more than 1,000 times."The word was passed to dump all the trash in this one particular barrel, leave everything there, fill it up. And there was a video taken by another student, which is just too coincidental for this person to not know that this was going to happen," O'Neill said."One student believed that the other student had ratted him out on something," Mansfield School Superintendent Brenda Hodges said.Police said accusations of retaliation ramp up the charges."He was attacked under the premise that he was a witness for the police or the commonwealth. The commonwealth takes it very serious when their witnesses are intimidated or harassed or otherwise interfered with," O'Neill said."The person who posted the video took it to another level and that person certainly has a great responsibility and culpability in this," Hodges said.O'Neill said anyone involved in the attack could face an accessory charge. Copyright 2008 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
