Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Video captures beating
Police are investigating an after-school fight in which three girls pounded a 14-year-old West Boca High student as she curled face down on the ground.
Cellphone video shot at Burt Aaronson South County Park in West Boca Raton Thursday afternoon shows that just as the attack appears to wind down, one of the girls violently grabbed the ninth-grader by the hair and pummels her with fists. Another segment shows a girl rush the victim, throw her down and pound at her head.
The video went viral on social media Friday, prompting questions about why the three girls were not arrested.
After the outcry, the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office responded on Twitter that criminal charges are pending.
The Sheriff’s office says the fight was sparked over a boyfriend.
The girl who was beaten had agreed to meet a student from Olympic Heights High School at the park at 2 p.m. “over an ongoing dispute,” said Teri Barbera, spokeswoman for the sheriff ’s office.
“The victim … was under the impression the two were meeting to talk,” Barbera said. “The suspect … apparently told the victim she wanted to meet to fight. The victim agreed to meet anyway. An altercation took place,” she said.
Part of the social media outrage focused on whether the attack was a hate crime. The victim is Muslim and the girl’s father said she was a victim of bullying because of her religion.
But police insisted that “at no time was race or bullying ever discussed, determined or considered to have played a role in the altercation.”