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Woman arraigned in school brawl
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A woman was arraigned in municipal court Wednesday for her part in a brawl at the Mahoning County High School on Monday that reports said was so heated that at one point, a handcuffed student on the floor was being kicked by another student involved in the brawl.
Student Shakeyia Smith, 19, of Greeley Lane was arraigned before Judge Elizabeth Kobly on a charge of aggravated riot. Assistant City Prosecutor Shelli Freeze had asked for a bond of $15,000, but Judge Kobly imposed a $25,000 bond.
Five juveniles also were arrested for their parts in the brawl at the school on 940 Bryn Mawr Drive and taken to the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center. The disposition of their cases was not available late Wednesday afternoon.
A report by a deputy sheriff who was working security at the school said he intervened in an argument among several female students about 7:40 a.m. in the cafeteria and was trying to escort a student out of the cafeteria.
The deputy said a 16-year-old female student ran up to him swinging her arms wildly and hit him in the face several times. A staff member was able to stop her, and the deputy took her out into the hall to try to handcuff her but she resisted, so he took her to the ground and was able to get a pair of handcuffs on the student, reports said.
As that was taking place, several students came into the hall, and a full-scale melee took place, with the students punching one another, reports said. As the handcuffed student was on the ground, another student was kicking her, reports said.
Before the fight was broken up, three teachers were hit in the head, and one of those three saw the school nurse because she was experiencing dizziness, reports said. One teacher wrote in a statement accompanying the police report that “punches were being thrown everywhere.”
A can of mace was found in the pocket of one of the students who was searched, and she faced an additional count of illegal conveyance of a weapon onto school grounds in addition to counts of aggravated riot and assault on a teacher, which are the charges on which the juveniles were booked into the JJC.
Smith has a preliminary hearing set for Wednesday. Freeze told Judge Kobly that Smith was one of several students involved in the melee.