Eleven more charged in East High fracas
Investigators suggest parental involvement may help solve issues
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
The investigator in charge of determining who should face charges after a series of fights March 8 at East High School said one of the goals in filing charges is to make sure the parents are in court with their children.
In announcing charges Tuesday against 11 students in Mahoning County Juvenile Court, Lt. Ramon Cox of the Youngstown Police Department’s Family Investigative Services Unit said he wants parents involved so they are fully aware of what started the fights and they can have a hand in solving the issues that led to the fights.
“One of the reasons we filed the charges is so we can get the parents into court so they can have a hand in helping to rectify this situation,” Cox said.
Two other students were charged March 9 for their roles in the fights and one has been in juvenile detention since then.
Additionally, one adult, Jo’Quan Blair, 18, was issued a citation March 16 by a Mahoning County deputy sheriff who was working security at the school when the fights broke out.
Blair pleaded not guilty March 16 when he was arraigned in municipal court on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. He has a trial date set April 13 before Judge Robert Milich.
Cox did confirm earlier reports the initial fight started after someone’s shoes were scuffed. He added, however, that as confusion reigned, other students decided to start fights with students with who they had been feuding.
The police department has refused to release the names of the juveniles charged, saying the city’s law department has informed them it is against the Ohio Revised Code to release their names. Instead, they listed the students’ ages and initials, but not their genders. That marks a reversal of longtime department policy.
Juvenile charges range from misconduct at an emergency, failure to comply and disorderly conduct, all fourth-degree misdemeanors, and assault and aggravated menacing, both first-degree misdemeanors. Felony charges are aggravated riot, a fourth-degree felony, and inducing panic, a second-degree felony.
A 15-year-old student also faces a charge of assault on a police officer, a fourth-degree felony. That student also faces the most charges, with three felonies and two misdemeanors.
Of the juveniles charged, five are 17; six are 16; and two are 15.
All told, eight of the students are facing felony charges. Authorities were in the process of serving complaints to the students and their families Tuesday. Interim Superintendent Stephen Stohla said none of the students who were charged Tuesday have been back in school since the fights took place.
Cox said the investigation has taken a long time because investigators had to secure video from inside the school, then watch the video and break it down, then interview witnesses, including staff and students.
The fights, which began breaking out about 11:20 a.m. March 8, canceled school for that day and the next and also led to police issuing a “Signal 12,” or a code for all available units to come to the school to help break the fights up. Officers used chemical spray to help break up the fights, and some students complained of being sprayed for no reason. More than two dozen officers ended up responding to the school that day.
Six students were taken into custody but all were released that night. Charges were filed the next day, however, against two of the students
Cox said as far as he knows, there is no cellphone footage of the fights.
He said the investigation is ongoing.
Court proceedings are expected to begin next week, a spokeswoman for the juvenile court said.