Four Windsor Middle School students arrested after back-to-back fights

Back-to-back fights this week injured two Windsor Middle School students and led police to arrest four others on suspicion of assault or weapons possession.

One boy was hit in the head with a small novelty baseball bat during a fight Wednesday at a park near the school’s Brooks Road South campus. The next day, in an apparent attempt at retaliation, a group of boys attacked a student who had called police to the park the day before, police and school officials said.

All the participants were around 13 years old.

Windsor Unified School District Superintendent Steve Jorgensen called the fights “very serious” and said they stand out as more alarming than a typical conflict that may arise among students. He said school staff were investigating whether the actions of any students could result in expulsion.

While school officials have said the incidents appear to be isolated, one parent spoke out Friday to say the fights were an extension of yearlong bullying her son has endured at the school and the inability of staff to address the problem.

Jessica Lichau, whose son was struck with the baseball bat, said that school officials suspended her son for five days following the Wednesday fight, during which he “threw a punch” before he was hit with the bat.

“The school called it a mutual fight, but if you’re constantly harassed, targeted in the bathrooms, it’s not a mutual fight, it’s self-defense,” Lichau said. “They keep telling him you just need to walk away, but they didn’t do anything to stop this harassment.”

Lichau said she chose to speak publicly because she hoped the incidents could lead to a school-wide conversation about bullying. “It’s not just about my child. What about other kids who are too afraid to say they are being bullied?”

“These kids attacked an innocent child who called 911,” she said.

Jorgensen said that several of the involved students have had “ongoing issues” but that “bullying wasn’t given as a cause of the incidents when the kids were interviewed.” That said, school officials still are investigating what took place.

The fights had an effect on campus, including the alarming scene of a student being taken away by ambulance Thursday.

Principal Shannyn Vehmeyer sent an e-mail to parents, staff and students that night. Parents responded with great concern about the violence, prompting some to contact the school.

Jorgensen said that teachers were encouraged to take time out of class to share the facts of what happened, dispel rumors and give students the opportunity to talk about what took place. Extra counselors and therapy dogs also were brought to campus.

Most of the students involved had been suspended or arrested and were not present. He said the student who called 911 had only minor injuries and was back at school.

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Sgt. Shawn Murphy, who is assigned to the Windsor Police Department, said the boys met just after?3 p.m. Wednesday at Lakewood Meadows Park, behind Safeway, and later “admitted they were going to the park to fight.”

The boys were in “mutual combat” when one boy produced an 18-inch baseball bat and struck another in the head, Murphy said.

The bat-wielder fled, but was later arrested and taken to juvenile hall on charges of felony assault with a deadly weapon, Murphy said.

The sergeant said they didn’t have statements or other evidence suggesting bullying was a factor in the fight.

But the repercussions led to another incident the next day.

On Thursday, around 1:15 p.m., deputies were dispatched to the school after three boys got into a fight.

Murphy said the victim, who was a witness to the fight on Wednesday, ?was confronted and blamed for calling police to the park.

“He was not involved. He was just a good kid,” Murphy said.

The boy was attacked by two others during lunch at the school and kicked while he was on the ground, according to the police report. He complained of neck pain and was taken to the hospital as a precaution, police said.

Deputies arrested the two teens on felony battery charges.

Yet another boy, who was not involved in the fight, was arrested for being in possession of a knife at school.

Lichau said that she took her son to the hospital on Wednesday after the fight. He received several stitches and is returning for further evaluation for a possible fracture to the bone around his left eye.

She said he’s facing consequences at home and no longer has a phone or access to social media. However, she believes the fact he went to the park were the actions of a fed-up 13-year-old.

She said school staff has kept her son in the principal’s office during breaks and at lunch to protect him from other students and that she only just discovered how much students were harassing and provoking him through social media, including messages demanding he meet at the park.

“He said, ‘I’m tired of all this happening and being talked down to and being called names and I decided to stop at the park,’” Lichau said.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem. You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter?@clarkmas.