Police Break Up Student Altercation At Richfield's Homecoming Football Game

While the Richfield football team was playing a tough game against St. Thomas Academy Friday night, a group of students were getting rowdy in the stands.

According to a recent Richfield Public Safety report, multiple officers were involved in what appeared to be a riot at Richfield High School. A 16-year-old juvenile male was taken into custody for creating a disturbance in the stands, was cited and later released at the scene.

RHS Principal Jason Wenschlag said the incident looked worse than it actually was and maintained that while the incident was a disturbance, there was no riot.

"Some kids from a previous conflict in September were 'jawing' at each other," Wenschlag told Richfield Patch in an e-mail. "One person tried punching another inside the stadium, which created some excitement among the many kids there."

After the punch attempt, Wenschlag said the conflict, which involved five students or so, spilled over to the blacktop area behind the stadium.

"Because there were so many kids and so much energy, more police came to help separate the kids and disperse the rest of the crowd," he said.

Three of the juveniles involved were non-Richfield students. One of the Richfield students, a non-resident city resident, was permenantly withdrawn from the high school, while the other received a consequence.

Wenschlag said no one was hurt in any way during the disturbance and the incident was mostly vocal.

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