This just came in from MPD's Deputy Chief Todd M. Conforti.
Shortly before 3:00 PM on 11-18-09, police assigned to Montclair High School as School Resource Officers responded to the area of North Fullerton Avenue and Chestnut Street on a report of a fight. Upon their arrival, they observed an adult Newark male, an adult Montclair male, and a Roselle juvenile female being detained by school security. The officers were informed that the detained individuals had been involved with a physical altercation with six Montclair High School students.
During the course of the investigation, a quantity of marijuana was discovered. The three detained parties were placed under arrest. The Newark male was charged with multiple drug-related charges, Disorderly Conduct, Criminal Trespass, and Riot, with bail set at $30,000 bond. The Montclair male was charged with Criminal Trespass and Riot, with bail set at $500. The Roselle juvenile was charged with Criminal Trespass, Disorderly Conduct, and Riot. She was later turned over to the custody of her guardian.
In the presence of the police officers, an additional East Orange adult male came to the area, seemingly with the intention of instigating a fight. When the East Orange male refused to leave the area and continued his behavior, he was arrested and charged with Criminal Trespass, Disorderly Conduct, and Hindering Apprehension after police learned that he had misrepresented his identity due to having an outstanding warrant out of East Orange. Bail was set at $20,000 bond.
On the same date at approximately 3:30 PM, police were continuing to disperse groups of students that had congregated in front of the high school. During this time, another disturbance occurred in the area of Park Street and Chestnut Street. During this incident a Montclair juvenile female was arrested after it was determined that she had punched a fellow student in the face. She was arrested, charged with Simple Assault and later turned over to the custody of her guardian. An additional Montclair male juvenile was arrested on scene after he refused to leave the area and began shouting that the groups did not have to obey officers' orders to leave the area of the school. He was charged with Riot and Disorderly Conduct and later turned over to the custody of his guardian.Shortly before 3:00 PM on 11-19-09, a Montclair Police School Resource Officer observed two males fighting in front of the high school. While breaking up the altercation, a Montclair juvenile male involved in the fight resisted the efforts of the officer, causing the officer to sustain a minor injury to his hand. The male was arrested and charged with Resisting Arrest, Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer, Riot, and Disorderly Conduct. He was later turned over to the custody of his guardian. The other male, an adult Montclair resident, was also arrested and charged with Resisting Arrest, Aggravated Assault, and Riot after he fought with officers and refused to be handcuffed. During this altercation, a police officer sustained an injury to his ankle. Bail was set at $1,000.
During this time, another fight was observed involving two juvenile males. Both were arrested and charged with Riot and Disorderly Conduct. One of the two was additionally charged with Resisting Arrest. Both were later turned over to their guardians. During this incident, a female Montclair juvenile was arrested when she refused to leave the area, and began cursing and inciting the students to continue the fight. She was charged with Disorderly Conduct and later turned over to her guardian.
Another student, a Montclair juvenile male, refused to leave the school grounds while police were trying to disburse the groups congregating around the school during the fights. When police attempted to escort him from the area, the juvenile punched the police officer in the chest. During the course of the arrest, one officer sustained an abrasion to the forehead when the juvenile scratched him, while another officer suffered an abrasion to the face. This juvenile was charged with Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer, Resisting Arrest, Riot, and Disorderly Conduct. He was later turned over to his guardian.
Subsequent investigations have led to the arrests of three additional Montclair residents in connection with the disturbance on 11-18-09, for charges including Riot, Simple Assault, and Disorderly Conduct. Names of the arrested adults are being withheld pending further investigation.
Investigation has led the police to believe that the disturbances on the 18th were instigated when non-Montclair residents had words with students while trying to hand out fliers to an out of town social event. The disturbances on the 19th do not appear to be related to altercations from the previous day. No further information can be released at this time due to an ongoing investigation.
Police have continued to meet with school administrators to ensure the safety of the students and the community. Additional police officers have been assigned to the area of the high school to supplement the presence of the Montclair Police School Resource Officers and Montclair High School Security Staff.
Todd Conforti
Deputy Chief of Police
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Comments (23)
"MPD Deputy Police Chief Reports on MHS Incidences"
Good Grief!
ROC, what's with the "good grief"?
ask Bernadette...
I think we're wasting too much time on this silly Montclair HS fight. Get over it.
Good Grief
What? No slurs against his writing style & word use??
No. It was clear and informative. I might edit it a bit for style, but it leaves me with a much fuller understanding of events than was communicated by the principal.
And to call out bad writing is not to hurl slurs.
Caphilly,
your feeble attempt at sarcasm is lost on the fact that this is an actual report with details. It gives a time line with facts and specifics to the exact situations as to where they unfolded, the disturbances themselves, the parties involved, and of course the actions taken by the MPD to continue to keep Montclair safe.
Unlike:
"Dear Parents and Caregivers:
On Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at approximately 3:00 p.m., several Montclair High School students were approached by individuals who are non students as they walked home from school. Both parties engaged in a verbal argument which eventually led to physical altercation. Police were dispatched and the non-MHS students were processed. Montclair High School students were processed using the school Code of Conduct. No weapons were discovered!
On Thursday, November 19, 2009 at approximately 2:55 p.m., four students were engaged in a physical altercation after school. Police were dispatched and students were processed by school and law enforcement. While police were attempting to disperse the crowd, several students were non-compliant which led to police intervention; therefore, other individuals had to be processed."
The above looks like a report from a tenth grader working for the school newspaper!!!!!!!!!
The incidence of poor correspondence incidents is directly proportional to the attendance of attendants to good grammar.
Excellent Roc!
I hereby bestow the Baristanet Overkill Award to the voluminous threads on the Montclair High School fights.
Now it is time to get back to fighting here.
After reading a (finally) detailed report, it seems like this is the same old stuff HS kids have been getting up to since the beginning of public schools.
The main difference between these fights and the ones involving kids I knew during my time as a high schooler in the 1990s is that more cops are involved today and the internet in general makes it easier for parents to ignore what most likely happened when they were in HS so they can blow things way out of proportion.
Wow...and it's only the end of the first grading period too...
Now, see what the No-Child-Left-Behind Bull-#!$%^ has done to our kids?
Here is the problem as I see it:
These are not ordinary fights. These "incidents" involved minors who ASSAULTED POLICE OFFICERS.
THAT is what is alarming to me. Fights between students happen. But that many students resisting the police speaks volumes about student (and even teacher) safety at the school. If these kids don't listen to the cops how can teachers keep the other kids safe?
I grew up in a very "urban" environment. There were plenty of HUGE fights. BUT... once the police rolled up on the scene everyone would take off running - not punch, scratch, or mouth off to them.
As far as the "adults" I think there is more to the story than they were just there to hand out some info...
On attacking police officers....The kids know that nothing will be done to them....a fine, maybe some community service. If this happened at Seton Hall, Delbarton or Depaul HS.....there would be suspensions and outright dismissal from their respective schools. A similar incident occurred at Verona High School 3 years ago....all 4 students were not asked back to the school system and had to go into other districts or privates.
Well, Monty, it does say "a quantity of marijuana was confiscated." Makes more sense that they were there to distribute that rather than the flyers.
Is "turned over to the custody of his guardian" today's standard legal boilerplate that keeps us from drawing any conclusions about the number of parents each kid might have at home?
Or does the phrase mean that none of these kids is being raised by even a single parent?
This is terrific. Thanks to Conforti and to the Baristas for posting it.
I went to West Essex in the 80s and I doubt much has changed. Every day there were drug deals and fist fights. There were just no police around to arrest anyone.
Next we'll be seeing the nines come out & stray bullet incidents.
The incident at Verona involved students assualting a student from another school, and injuring him to the point of hospitalization. The assaulters were suspended and removed from athletic teams (in addition to legal proceedings initiated by the township). They were not expelled, but rather chose to leave so that they could continue their athletic careers, and private schools were all to happy to take a few of them.
Yes - Guns. That is where we are headed. One of these days someone - perhaps one of the "adults" from Newark or wherever is going to show up to settle a score with a drive-by.
Before everyone freaks out - Yes there have been plenty of "incidents" -some even with guns- in other happy suburban communities. (And horror stories like Columbine.) But here in our town there seems to be a general atmosphere of violence which I think may become the "new normal".
And it is starting in the younger grades. My third grader has SEVERAL kids in her class who have been suspended SEVERAL times this year for complete defiance to the teachers, "disruptive" behavior despite teacher intervention, and for unprovoked violence against other 8 year-olds! And I am not talking about a push in the hall. I mean VIOLENT acts that were out of the blue. As in "for fun". Also cursing at the teacher - regularly. Yikes. My child does not feel safe at school and she is only nine. And you know what? I'm not confident that she is actually safe.
I sure hope that motivational speaker can fix this before its too late!
And some will tell you that nothing has changed & that this has been going on since the beginning of time.