Fenger Coach Charged With Assault In Attack On Student
UPDATED 10/13/11 7:13 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The suspended head coach of the Fenger High School football team has been charged with assault, amid allegations that he and another coach drove students to the home of a peer to carry out an attack.
Cassius Chambers, 28, of the 8100 block of South Paxton Avenue, turned himself in to Calumet Area detectives Oct. 5 and was charged with one count of misdemeanor simple assault, police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien said.
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A 17-year-old boy was also arrested and charged Oct. 6 with misdemeanor simple battery, O'Brien said. His identity was not being released because he is a juvenile.
Both charges stem from the Oct. 1 attack on 16-year-old Fenger student Darion Jones in the 11800 block of South Wentworth Avenue. The boy's relatives said a coach stopped by the boy's home to question him about a Fenger football player who was allegedly jumped and robbed of his Nike flip-flops.
Minutes later, at least two carloads of football players arrived and attacked Jones and his 15-year-old nephew, David Baker, according to relatives, who said Chambers and an assistant coach were on the scene, but did nothing to stop the attack.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones reported that Darion was beaten so badly that he lost a tooth, and his prosthetic eye was knocked out of its socket.
Darion's mother, Patricia Jones, intervened to try and help her son, injuring her arm in the process.
David Baker was hit in the head, his mother said.
CPS spokeswoman Marielle Sainvilus said Chambers remains suspended pending the completion of a CPS investigation. He did not coach the team in last Friday's game against King College Prep.
This is not the first time in recent years that Fenger High School has been the subject of notoriety in the headlines.
Two years ago, honor student Derrion Albert, 16, was beaten to death as he walked home from the school and was caught in the middle of a fight. Teens who lived in "The Ville" neighborhood around Fenger, 11220 S. Wallace St., were fighting with teens who were bused in from Altgeld Gardens near 130th Street.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
