Two Students To Be Charged in School Bus Fight

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by ARLnow.com — March 31, 2011 at 10:57 am 3,619 32 Comments

Two Yorktown High School students will be charged with disorderly conduct after a fight broke out on a school bus this morning.

ACPD officers responded to the intersection of N. Taft Street and 21st Street, in the North Highland neighborhood, around 8:00 this morning for a report of a fight on a school bus. A 15-year-old and a 16-year-old were detained and issued juvenile petitions by police. They will both be charged with disorderly conduct, according to Arlington police spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal.

The bus then continued on to Yorktown High School. The two students were released to face possible disciplinary action at the school.

“We can confirm that there was an altercation this morning between two students on one of the APS buses,” Arlington Public School spokesperson Frank Bellavia said. “School administrators were notified and appropriate steps are being taken in accordance with our policies and procedures.”

Flickr pool photo by Chris Rief

wilbur

So a kid gets picked on by a jerk, and *both* of them receive “juvenile petitions” Great. One of the reasons I dont like school buses. There is no adult on the bus. Jerks can act like jerks – and the victims get the punishment. Hopefully other students will stand up and tell what really happened.
- borf
  
  You have no idea what happened on that bus, so stop speculating.
- Southeast Jerome
  
  so is a child driving the bus if there is no adult on board?
  - NOVApologist
    
    Yes. The school bus driver budget was redirected to provide free bidets to the residents of Lyon Village. Students must now drive the buses themselves to fulfill community service credits.
    - GMo
      
      Good. It’s about time those youngsters got off my lawn and start to pull their weight!
    - CW
      
      I have no idea where that came from, but I LOVE a good bidet reference. You just made my day.
    - T
      
      A high school fight makes news? This kind of cr*p happened on a weekly basis in my Fairfax County HS in the late 80s…definitely wasn’t headline news. Poor kids these days..they can’t fart without it being plastered all over the media, facebook and beyond.
      - borf
        
        Yeah, but did the cops come and arrest the fighters every week? I doubt it.
        
        Yeah, poor kids, can’t beat each other up on a crowded bus anymore. :rolleyes:
      - T
        
        Come on…total pussification of our society. Calling the police on minors in …it used to be handled by the school with the parents being dragged in…depending on severity maybe a suspension.
        
        I don’t know the extent of the fight but given the demographics of Yorktown I am going to assume this wasn’t a gun-knife fight. Total over-dramatization. Just like expelling the kids that carry advil for monthly cramps.
      - Novanglus
        
        Don’t assume that the “Yorktown demographic” is so homogeneous. The neighborhood where this occurred was put in the Yorktown district to give it more diversity — it’s much closer to W&L.
      - T
        
        OOOOhhhh big bad Scary W&L Novanglus, That is where Lyon Village parents send their kids. Yorktown has a much richer demographic…and some tonier neighborhoods than LV.
  - grape
    
    The adult on board is the bus driver…
Chef D

Be puting them on an ART bus, I’ll inforce some manners into those little turds, yo.
roquer

And a good time is had by all.Fighters get to fight, spectators get to cheer, then the cops might get a swing or two in as well. What an overall great day!
Sleeves

Its March 31st. You think no seniors have had their birthday yet? I can only imagine there was a dozen adults on that bus.
- Lou
  
  We all had cars by that point.
  - Thes
    
    Or this:
    - Lauren
      
      HA! He won’t be happy when he’s 30 yrs old and sees his old HS photos.
      - brendan
        
        is anyone?
      - Lauren
        
        some are – not most, I agree. But this one may be real sorry – more than most. 🙂
NArl

That’s how most Yorktown student get to school, just try to drive down Yorktown Blvd in the AM.
- Bill
  
  What – they get to school by fighting?
  - Moo-latte
    
    Yes, Bill. they fight over their latte’s and frappe’s, or maybe its fight with… Ah, never mind. I’ll take the Wakefield kids any day of the week.
    - NArl
      
      Did you not read the crime report: ROBBERY/MALICIOUS WOUNDING-ARREST 03/24/11, 5000 block of Columbia Pike. the kids arrested for that crime, where do you think they go to high school. Wait for it most likely Wakefield.
- new
  
  There’s almost no parking there. It’s a rare kid who drives — most walk or bus or get dropped off, which is probably what you are seeing.
brendan

not sure of the details, maybe the fight went too far, but overall not a fan of this trend towards involving the police in school related incidents unless serious injuries occur or weapons are involved.
- Maria
  
  Most of the time, the police don’t get involved (at least not beyond the officer assigned to the school perhaps). I have no idea, so I could be totally wrong, but I’m assuming that, in this case, it had more to do with the fact that it was on a bus. It’s much easier to separate kids and deescalate a situation in a school building than in a “small” space like a bus. Plus, as the only adults on the bus, and with the whole “focusing on driving” thing, the bus drivers aren’t exactly in the best position to take care of the situation alone.
  
  Again, just guessing.
  - Leroy.
    
    Yeah, we don’t know what happened. There is definitely a trend though in school districts across the country to involve the police in what used to be basic disciplinary matters. Arlington hasn’t gone nearly as far as others, which is a good thing, i just hope it remains that way.
Red_Headed_Stepchild

where was the media back in the 90’s when I was getting my a$$ beat on a weekly basis? Hopefully someone else on the bus was able to record the fight and share it with the world on youtube, brickfist, or comegetyousome.
Dan

I actually drove past this on the way to work. As I was driving by, the cops were escorting one of the kids in handcuffs to their car. The cops–yes there were MORE than one cop car (good tax dollars at work)– were parked in the middle of the street, where myself and others had to cautiously navigate through so we wouldn’t hit each other. Brilliant.
- Where’s the Chopper?
  
  did you see an ACPD helicopter hovering above looking for any accomplices?
  - Dan
    
    Didn’t see or notice any choppers. But then again, I’m so used to them around DC I may not even notice.

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