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10 of 11 students arrested after last week's subway station fight

Published  March 23, 2017 5:14pm EDT
U.S.
FOX 29 Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - SEPTA police have arrested 10 of the 11 suspects in last Thursday's subway station fight involving high school students.

All 11 of the suspects were identified. They'll be charged with aggravated assault and robbery, both felonies.

Seven of the suspects were arrested at Benjamin Franklin High School when the fire alarm was pulled. One was arrested at the Franklin Learning Center.

Midday Thursday, shortly before the news conference, the ninth was arrested after a foot chase in North Philadelphia.

Then, during Thursday afternoon's news conference, it was announced a tenth suspect was arrested. No details on that arrest are available yet.

SEPTA police say fights are a citywide problem, mentioning the arrests in this incident were all boys -- but Wednesday night's fight on the street in West Philadelphia was between two groups of teenage girls. That one led to a 16-year-old being sent to the hospital with her hair set on fire -- and now six other girls are going to be charged.

Last week, dozens of onlookers caught that after-school brawl at the Broad Street Line's Race/Vine station, and several recorded video on their cell phones.

Over the weekend, police released eight pictures of young people they wanted to talk to.

SEPTA said the melee started as an icy snowball fight outside that escalated down to the subway mezzanine and into a brutal attack.

The victims were students from the nearby String Theory Charter School.

Wednesday, Principal Jack Carr told FOX 29 News they were targeted for telling a group of teens to stop throwing chunks of ice at some younger kids. Then, they were punched, kicked and stomped on.

It was a chaotic scene that SEPTA's police chief said happens far too often.

The fights are sometimes planned, sometimes spontaneous, and usually only last a minute or two with most scattering before police arrive.

And from Center City to the Northeast, SEPTA passengers have been saying they often don't feel safe when high school and middle schoolers are on board.