Video Of School Fight Leads To Felony Charges
OLIVEHURST, Calif. (CBS13) – A teen girl has been arrested on felony charges for a fight on the last day of school that was recorded and shared on social networking sites.
The 27 second video shows two teen girls throwing punches on the last day of class at Yuba Gardens Intermediate School last week.
When one of the girls, 14-year-old Chelsi Branham, turned around to pick up her cell phone off the ground, the other girl continued attacking, knocking Branham to the ground while striking and kicking her repeatedly.
Investigators said the suspect, whose identity has not been released due to her age, was arrested at her home Wednesday for allegedly attacking Branham, who was on her way home from school last week.
The alleged victim told CBS13 she suffered a concussion and a contusion from the confrontation. Doctors reported her injuries to authorities after treating her at the hospital.
A cell phone video that was uploaded to YouTube showed the two girls throwing punches before the victim got knocked to the ground.
None of the bystanders in the video appeared to make any effort to physically intervene, but one person told the suspect to stop the fight after she continued to punch and kick the victim after she stopped resisting.
"I don't give a f— if she ain't fighting," the suspect said.
The video spread through social networking sites and racked up hundreds of views before YouTube pulled it down for violating their terms of service.
"Everyone's just like, I heard you got your ass kicked," Chelsi said.
The fight came after months of taunting over false rumors that Chelsi had two abortions, she said, and some of her tormentors kept calling her a killer and a murderer. Chelsi said she believes the fight took place on the last day of school so her attackers wouldn't get in trouble.
Marsyville Joint Unified School District Assistant Superintendent Ramiro Carreon said officials hadn't heard about the fight until CBS13 asked about it, and called the footage "absolutely disturbing."
The video received hundreds of views before it was pulled down for violating YouTube's terms of service.
The suspect is facing felony assault charges and is being held at juvenile hall.
School district officials said those responsible for the fight may be expelled and other students could face punishment for bullying.
