Bunker Hill Street Fight Leads to Pepper Spraying

The that led to the arrest of two youths near Charlestown High School last week involved a blast of pepper spray and a group of about 30 students cheering on the combatants, according to a police report.

Officers responded to the fight around 1:45 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 30, the report said. They arrived on the scene about 20 minutes later and “observed several males/females… involved in a violet altercation with a crowd of about 30 onlookers cheering on the fighters.”

Officers yelled at the combatants to stop, but they fell to the ground with each other. Officers then “were forced to physically separate them.”

Shortly after that, an irritated man began screaming expletives at an officer. The officer asked the man to leave the area, the report said, but the expletive-yelling man and another man “continued to yell obscenities at officers, interfering with our attempt to break up a fight and render aid.”

As the officers continued to try to sort out the scene, traffic stopped near the intersection of Bunker Hill Street and Polk Street, and one of the suspects “deliberately” head-butted an officer. The strike bloodied the officer's lip, the report said.

The crowd grew to about 40 students, the report said, and they encouraged the suspects to fight the police.

One of the suspects resisted the efforts of three officers to subdue him, leading another officer to spray the man in the face with pepper spray.

Shortly after, officers were able to handcuff both suspects. They were charged with assault and battery of a police officer.