Knife Confiscated After School Bus Scuffle

RICHFIELD, Ohio – A school bus scuffle ends with a Summit County high school student being taken into custody.

Police in Bath Twp. said the 16-year-old from Akron wasn’t arrested for using his fists, but for bringing a weapon onto the bus, and using it to do damage.

Police Chief Michael McNeely said, “There was a fight, punches were thrown between the two.  The evidence indicates that the individual we arrested was the primary aggressor.”

A police report stated the aggressor was found to have a weapon, a 9-inch pocket knife, which police said he pulled out during the fight and threatened to “stick” the other student last Wednesday, during the ride home from Revere High School.

The report goes on to say other students, about a dozen, moved to the front of the bus, trying to get away from him and the knife.

But school superintendent Randy Boroff is refuting that claim, saying, “After interviewing all the students, after viewing the video tapes and after interviewing the student when the incident was being investigated, we have no reason to believe that he was threatening in any way.”

But police said the student did, in fact, use the knife to puncture holes in the back of one of the seats.  It was not clear if the victim was actually sitting in the seat when it was damaged.

The juvenile, who lives in Akron, was picked up at the school the following day and arrested.

He was charged with possession of a deadly weapon, a felony, and criminal damaging, a misdemeanor.

The superintendent would not comment on the student’s status at the school.