Charges against 5 teenagers after fight at Meadowbrook High School football practice game

By 12 On Your Side Digital Team

Published: August 23, 2024 at 5:32 am EDT|Updated: 2 hours ago

CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WWBT) – Chesterfield Police are releasing new details about a fight that occurred after a football practice game at Meadowbrook High School Thursday night.

According to police, officers were called to a reported disturbance at the school shortly before 7:30 p.m.

“When the practice game ended, a large group of youths (approximately 20 to 30) gathered and fighting broke out,” Chesterfield police said.

According to police, an officer used pepper spray to disperse the fighting groups. Several youths were arrested.

“As officers attempted to detain some juveniles, other juveniles intervened and attempted to pull the suspects away from officers,” Chesterfield police said.

Five teenagers were arrested and charged.

“Unfortunately, it can escalate, and that often happens when schools resume,” said Cliff Lent, president of M7 Solutions.

Lent said safety should be the top concern of students, parents and school administrators.

“When there are a lot of people around, the perpetrators think, 'Oh, I can jump in, I'm anonymous, I won't get caught, nobody will see me,' so the risk of extreme violence increases,” Lent said. “The risk of a gun being pulled increases, so what might have been a harmless fight quickly turns into a gun being pulled and a tragedy ensues.”

Police confirmed Friday morning that all but one of the students are from Meadowbrook. One is a student at Falling Creek Middle School.

Here is a breakdown of the fees:

Two girls aged 13 and 15 are charged with assault

A 15-year-old boy is charged with trespassing, obstruction and possession of marijuana under the age of 21

A 17-year-old boy is charged with trespassing, obstruction and wearing a mask in public

A 15-year-old boy is accused of disturbing the peace, trespassing and obstruction

According to Chesterfield Schools, Meadowbrook's principal sent the following statement to parents Thursday evening:

“I know it's unusual for you to hear from me at this time of the evening, but I wanted to let you know that there were several fights at today's football game. Chesterfield Police assisted our school administration in attempting to break up the fights. As we do throughout the year, we remind students of the expectations for their behavior. Please help us reinforce these expectations with your children. Please let me know if you have any questions.”

There was an increased police presence at the school on Friday morning.

“The reality is that schools don't have unlimited resources for security and the police can't send unlimited officers to these events, and there are a lot of these events,” Lent said. “So anything we can do as a team effort, bringing our guidance counselors together with school security officers, patrol officers and school administration to prevent this before violence occurs, is the best course of action.”

The cause of the clashes is unclear; all of the youths were handed over to their parents after their arrest.

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