13-year-old arrested after school fight results in broken eye socket, California cops say

A 13-year-old middle school student was arrested after a school fight left another boy with injuries to his face, police in California said.

The 13-year-old is accused of attacking the other boy, leaving him with a fractured eye socket and a concussion, NBC Los Angeles reported. Both are students at Ethan A. Chase Middle School in Menifee, California, about 78 miles southwest of Los Angeles.

The Romoland School District said in a statement that the fight happened during a nutrition break on Oct. 25, and that the student was arrested on Oct. 26.

Police decided to arrest the boy after evaluating the extent of the other boy’s injuries, Menifee Police Department Captain Dave Gutierrez told McClatchy News.

Gutierrez said the decision was made in collaboration with the district attorney’s office, and that the boy who sustained “moderate” facial injuries had to be treated at a hospital. They also reviewed a video of the fight.

The two students knew each other and the fight was not a “random act of violence,” but happened after the two boys had already been “bantering back and forth, making fun of each other and doing what kids do,” Gutierrez said.

“Unfortunately, it ended up culminating into this,” Gutierrez said.

The fight happened in a matter of seconds, though the students were going back and forth verbally before, Gutierrez said.

“The kid was sitting down, and then the other kid came up and threw him to the ground and then punched him in the face a couple of times,” Gutierrez said. “The school administration was there very, very quickly and separated them.”

Gutierrez said police are still trying to identify the student who took the video.

The school district’s statement said that there’s an increased presence of campus security at the school, and that the Menifee Police Department’s investigation is ongoing.

“Harsh words and insults are the catalysts for most confrontations,” the statement said. “All of us have a responsibility to prevent violent situations by teaching non-violent problem-solving.”

Gutierrez said the boy who was arrested was briefly booked into juvenile hall before being released.

“He will still have to go through the court process, but he’s no longer in custody,” he said.

This story was originally published October 28, 2021 at 4:53 PM with the headline "13-year-old arrested after school fight results in broken eye socket, California cops say."