AVONDALE — In an investigation conducted by another police department, the Avondale Police Department told ABC15 that aggravated assault charges are being recommended for a West Point High student allegedly involved in a fight with an Avondale school resource officer. On Tuesday, the Tolleson Union High School District released surveillance footage of the moments leading up to the fight.
In mid-September, a fight broke out between the student and the school resource officer inside the West Point High School cafeteria. Right after that fight, Tolleson Union Superintendent Jeremy Calles asked Avondale Police to remove that officer from the school.
Calles told ABC15 that the officer had been with the school since it opened in 2019. Neither the police department nor the school district has released the officer’s identity. After the fight, the officer was not removed from that campus, and Avondale Police said he was put on administrative duties.
The fight started after a food fight had occurred in the cafeteria. Calles said staff, including the officer, were trying to move students out. As students walked out of the cafeteria, at one point in the surveillance video, it appears the officer put a hand on the student in question and the student’s elbow moves. After that, the video shows the officer pinning the student against a trash can, and the two appear to fight. Eventually, the video shows the officer taking the student down to the ground, and punches were thrown in by both people.
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After the incident, Avondale Police asked Peoria Police to investigate the incident. This week, Avondale Police said that, based on the investigation done by Peoria Police, aggravated assault charges against a law enforcement officer are being recommended against the student. Police will recommend them to the Maricopa County Juvenile Court. Avondale Police added that the investigation found “no criminal violation” by the school resource officer.
Calles said the investigation on their end concluded as well, saying that their administrators acted within their capacity during this incident.
“Reviewing what I've seen, on both sides, there are things that could've been handled differently that didn't need to lead up to what happened,” Calles said of the two parties involved.
Calles would not say whether the student will be disciplined, citing federal student privacy laws.
It’s currently unclear if the officer is still on administrative duty or has been reassigned.
West Point High now has a school safety officer on campus, with different officers rotating in, unlike a resource officer who is assigned to that school.
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