DATE: Tuesday, November 4, 1997             TAG: 9711040259

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   36 lines

BATTLE ERUPTS ON SCHOOL BUS; YOUTH TREATED FOR HEAD CUT

A 15-year-old was treated at a hospital after a fight erupted on a school bus bound for New Directions, the Portsmouth school system's alternative school.

The bus was in the 500 block of DeKalb Avenue in Fairwood Homes. A 15-year-old boy boarded the bus and allegedly began to assault a 13-year-old, according to police spokeswoman Amber Whittaker.

Two other boys, ages 13 and 14, saw the assault from the street. They broke through the closed door of the bus and went after the 15-year-old, she said.

Those two, students at Cradock Middle School, were the brother and friend of the 13-year-old victim, according to Kerri Albertson, spokeswoman for the Portsmouth public school system.

Albertson said threats apparently were made against the 13-year-old in Fairwood Homes on Halloween night. The tension spilled over to the bus Monday.

Albertson said she was told the 15-year-old had asked the bus driver if he could move to the back of the bus, where the younger student usually sits, before the 13-year-old boarded.

Police officers responded to the scene not long after the fight broke out about 7:45 a.m.

The 15-year-old apparently was hit on the head with a small fire extinguisher and was taken to Maryview Medical Center to be treated for a cut, Whittaker said.

Because skin was broken, the youth who hit him could face a felony charge, she said.

Three of the students face charges ranging from obstruction of justice to assault. KEYWORDS: SCHOOL BUS ASSAULT

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