3 Students Arrested Following Continued Fighting At Wharton High

NEW TAMPA, FL – The epidemic of hair-pulling and punching among students at Wharton High School prompted the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office to arrest several students at the New Tampa school Wednesday, Feb. 7.

The sheriff’s office deployed 37 deputies to Wharton Wednesday afternoon when two more in a string of fights broke out.

“Wharton High School witnessed a string of student disturbances yesterday that prompted a larger-than-normal response and resources from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office,” said sheriff’s spokesman Danny Alvarez.

One fight occurred around 1 p.m. Deputies broke it up and charged one student with misdemeanor battery, resisting arrest without violence and disruption of a school function and a second student with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and disruption of a school function.

A second fight broke out around 2 p.m. During this conflict a student spat on a deputy who was trying to talk him out of fighting. The student was was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.

Deputies remained on the scene until the school day ended with a special, staggered dismissal time.

Alvarez said the deputies were called to the high school at the request of school administrators "when it became apparent that more fights were potentially brewing," Alvarez said. "While it is unclear what the motivations behind the incidents were, it is believed that neighborhood issues between individual students have been spilling onto the campus."

While deputies were ensuring the safety of students and faculty at Wharton, Deputy Nate Johnson was called to Tampa Bay Technical High School, 6410 Orient Road, Tampa, where he encountered a fight among three students in the hallway in front of the school office.

Johnson ordered them to stop fighting but they ignored him. So Johnson sprayed all three boys in the face with pepper spray, demanding once again that they quit brawling. One student ran off but the other two kept fighting while Johnson used the pepper spray again and tried to pull them apart.

At that point, Johnson was joined by an off-duty Tampa Police officer who was in uniform on campus for an unrelated issue. Together, they separated and handcuffed the boys and then apprehended the third student. All three students were charged with affray and resisting arrest, and one student received an added charge of trespassing on school grounds.

Wharton High School has been the epicenter of neighborhood rivalries among students since the start of the school year, prompting students observing the frays to record the fights on their cell phones and post the videos on social media sites.

The battling among both male and female students reached a crescendo Friday, Feb. 2, when a fight broke out on the bus ramp among 20 students at the end of the school day. The sheriff's office said 11 arrests are pending from that fight based on a review of school surveillance video.

Fighting broke out once again around 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, just outside the school cafeteria. Deputies and administrators broke up the fight, detained the subjects involved and dispersed the student crowd which had formed around the fight.

Fifteen minutes later, another bout broke out among several students in the center courtyard of the school, once again drawing a crowd of students.

The battling continued around 3 p.m. as the school day ended. Several sheriff's units were called to the scene to break up two separate fights. One student was arrested and charged with battery on a specified employee,affray and disruption of a school function. Six other students were charged with affray and disruption of a school function. In all, deputies made seven arrests on Tuesday.

Hillsborough County School District spokeswoman Tanya Arja said, in contrast to the previous few school days, Thursday, Feb. 8, was quiet.

"Our students and staff had a great day of learning which included Black History Month presentations," she said in a press release. "There were no issues on campus today."

Arja added that it appears the high school is getting back to normal.

"Although there was an enhanced law enforcement presence earlier in the week, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and district school security significantly decreased the law enforcement presence on campus today," she said. "Both the sheriff's office and school security believe, based on measures taken earlier in the week, there would be no other issues today and the decision was made to reduce the number of personnel accordingly."

She noted that the conflicts were limited to a small number of students and does not represent the school's student body.

"The vast majority of the students at Wharton High School are making good choices," she said. "This is a small number of students causing a disruption.We reiterate these fights are not school-related but stem from neighborhood issues or posts on social media. However, when these fights come on to our campus, we take it seriously. The district is taking steps to address some of these conflicts. School administrators will be working with students to reinforce expectations around respect and focus on academics and behavior."

Additionally, Arja said a second school resource officer from the district's school security unit will be assigned to Wharton High School for the remainder of the year "to provide support and to build relationships with our students."

Image via Pixabay: Photographer Diegoparra