Originally posted by figmentmom
Clearly, we're missing all the fun up here north of Albany...
From today's Times-Herald Record...
Kids create chaos in school food fight
By Kristina Wells
Times Herald-Record
kwells@th-record.com
Central Valley – A food fight in the Monroe-Woodbury High School cafeteria escalated into a water bottle-hurling, pizza-tossing, cop-pummeling free-for-all yesterday.
The melee erupted during sixth period, sometime after 10:30 a.m., in the cafeteria where 300 to 400 students were eating.
It spilled into the hallways, where an estimated 20 police officers, teachers and security guards tried to quell the mealtime mob, said Woodbury police Chief Robert Kwiatkowski.
At one point, two students jumped a Woodbury police officer. One hit the cop at least three times, Kwiatkowski said.
No one, including the police officer, was injured, officials said. The school was locked down for three hours. It was unclear how long the melee lasted.
The two students who allegedly attacked the police officer and a third involved in the food fight were arrested yesterday. The trio – two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old – could face a variety of charges ranging from disorderly conduct to second-degree assault to possession of marijuana, Kwiatkowski said.
Students said the food fight went beyond typical last-day-of-classes "Animal House" antics. Some students made frantic, hysterical cell phone calls to their parents.
A few students reported being hit by water bottles, thrown from a floor above the hallway. There were also student reports of kids shaking up soda cans and tossing them into the crowd.
Students said other projectiles included trays, milk cartons and apples. Tomato sauce coated the ceiling and floor, witnesses said.
"Everyone came out into the hallway, pushing people, hitting lockers and doors," said Jaimie Gray, a senior, whose mother, Elizabeth, rushed to school after her daughter phoned home. "There were people actually running toward me."
Superintendent Terrence Olivo called the students' outburst "completely unacceptable behavior" and promised swift and tough punishment for those responsible.
School officials and police are reviewing video footage taken by security cameras peppered throughout the cafeteria and hallways, Olivo said.
An estimated 15 students have been identified as "major contributors" to the fight. A smaller group is believed to have planned it, he said.
"All you need is five or six kids who decide they want to start this," Kwiatkowski said.
Administrators downplayed the incident, saying students in the cafeteria – which can hold up to 550 people – did not comply with orders to stop and that's what prompted the large-scale police response.
Officers from Woodbury, Tuxedo, Blooming Grove, Monroe, Harriman and state police responded.
Parents parked their cars along Dunderberg Road in front of the high school waiting for their children. They were not allowed onto campus, a customary practice when the school is locked down.
"They wouldn't tell me anything," said Elizabeth Gray, who paced the road waiting for her daughter, Jaimie. "Why are police here if it's just a food fight?"
Michelle Buck, a sophomore, turned around and revealed a trail of what appeared to be spattered salsa and nacho cheese on the back of her white hooded shirt.
"I got whaled in the head with milk," she said.
"It was awesome."
Katie got hit with a carton of milk & a pickle...
And our finale is more iimpressive, too. And no pointless Jafar snake that runs around for two minutes straight.
