ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 6, 1996 TAG: 9604080020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Three Patrick Henry High School students were charged Friday with assaulting another student and detained in the Roanoke Juvenile Detention Home until they are arraigned Monday. A fourth student also will be charged in the incident, police said.
The victim was Curtis Smallwood Jr., a senior and member of the school's baseball team. He was treated by a sports trainer at the school for cuts to his face and mouth, kicks to his body and an apparent bite on his stomach before being transported to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, police said. Smallwood was treated at the hospital and released.
Police did not identify Smallwood, but his parents, Curtis and Sharon Smallwood, contacted The Roanoke Times about the incident and said their son was the victim.
Police said the motive remains unclear. A police news release gave this account:
Smallwood was waiting for a friend near a classroom about 8:30 a.m. Friday when several male students approached him. One purposely bumped into him and asked "What's up?'' the victim told the police.
A teacher came out of a room and observed the group around Smallwood and told the students to move on. One student threatened the teacher, and two others pushed by him to get to Smallwood.
The teacher left to seek assistance. When the school's police resource officers and a security guard arrived, Smallwood had been knocked down, and his face was bloodied.
The three students who have been charged were not identified because they are juveniles; one is 17, and two are 16. Police said all three were dressed in identical clothing, but there is no indication it was a gang-type activity.
Smallwood's parents said their son did not know the students who attacked him and doesn't know why he was beaten.
"They picked him out at random and for no reason," his father said.
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