Quarrel Between Thompson School Students End in One Arrest

NEWPORT, RI — A 12-year-old Thompson Middle School student allegedly socked a classmate in the eye after school was dismissed on Oct. 19.

Police said the victim and his father came to the police station and reported the incident. The student said he was walking to the school bus after dismissal when another boy was walking behind him and throwing small stones in his direction.

He told the boy to stop, and he did. But after they rode the bus home, they got off at the same stop. The victim said the other boy ran up behind him and punched him in the eye. He allegedly warned the victim not to tell anybody or he'd punch him again.

Police said the victim's eye did appear swollen.

The investigating officer spoke to school authorities, obtained the accused student's contact information and went to his home to speak with him and his parents. The boy was not home, and his mother said he has not come home from school yet. She called him on his cell phone and asked him to come home, which he did.

The boy told police the other youngster had been making stories up and reporting him to authorities at school. He allegedly said he became angry because he had been falsely accused.

The victim's father told police he wanted to press charges.

The charge is simple assault and battery, and the case is being handled in Family Court.