A senior prank that started with water balloons escalated to
a fist fight and ended with the arrests of three students at Gulf Coast High
School on Monday.
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office was called to the school
at 7878 Shark Way around lunchtime after receiving a report of a disturbance. The disturbance was sparked by a water balloon
fight in the school courtyard that was part of a senior prank. But the prank
quickly went awry after some school administrators reported getting hit by
water balloons, deputies said.
A CCSO Youth Relations deputy responded to the courtyard,
where two male students were engaged in a fist fight that was triggered after
one of them was hit by a water balloon.
An estimated 400 to 500 students were also in the courtyard, which is
near the cafeteria.
The deputy, along with a school administrator, ordered the
large crowd to disperse as he made his way toward the fight, but many ignored
his lawful commands. The deputy ordered the two students to stop fighting, but
they also ignored his lawful commands and continued to fight. The deputy
approached the larger of the pair and made two attempts to subdue him, but each
time the student broke free from the deputy’s grasp.
The deputy then deployed one burst of his capsicum in the direction of
the student at the center of the violence. However, some students in the
immediate area also felt the effects because of their proximity, an unfortunate
consequence that resulted from their not obeying the deputy’s lawful commands
to disperse. EMS treated at least nine students on scene and their parents were
notified.
This was student-on-student violence that the deputy was
trying to resolve. Realizing there were several hundred students in the
immediate area, and the situation had the potential to escalate rapidly, the
deputy called for CCSO backup. The student was placed on the ground while the
deputy waited for assistance.
CCSO road patrol deputies arrived to assist the Youth
Relations deputy and gave the large crowd orders to back up. Two students
refused and attempted to block the deputies from entering the courtyard. Deputies
arrested one of the students and charged him with obstruction of justice. The
other student received a civil citation for community service in lieu of
arrest.
The student at the center of the violence was arrested and
charged with affray and resisting arrest without violence. The other student
involved in the fight was charged with affray.
The three arrested students, whose names are not being
released because they are minors, are facing misdemeanor charges. They were taken into the custody of the state
Department of Juvenile Justice.
