Students pepper sprayed, officer assaulted
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on April 11, 2017 10:12 AM
Southern Wayne High School's resource officer pepper-sprayed two students fighting on a school bus and arrested another student who cussed at him and assaulted him Thursday after he broke up the fight, according to Wayne County Sheriff's Office reports.
Maj. Tom Effler with the sheriff's office confirmed the two students who were pepper-sprayed are fine.
Taryn E'shon Whitfield, 17, of Dudley, is charged with resisting a public officer, assault on a government official and disorderly conduct.
The two students accused of fighting on a school bus, 16-year-old Kaniyah Houpe and 17-year-old Jessica Roddick, were taken to the magistrate's office after the fight and were released to their parents.
Effler said Whitfield was not involved with the initial fight, but began cussing and being disorderly after school resource officer Matthew Wade had detained the two girls.
The reports said the two girls were fighting on the front seat of the school bus after school around 3 p.m.
Wade went onto the bus and told them to stop as they punched each other, the report said.
Wade continued telling them to stop, and tried to pull them apart twice, according to the report.
When those options failed, Wade pulled out his pepper spray and sprayed it in there direction, according to the report.
The report said the two girls then stopped fighting and Wade called for the school nurse to check on them.
Houpe and Roddick were arrested on affray charges, the report said.
About 20 minutes later, while the two girls were detained and waiting on sheriff's deputies to come and take them to the magistrate's office, Whitfield began cussing at Wade and other school officials, according to Effler.
An assistant principal then told Wade that Whitfield needed to leave the school premises.
When Wade asked Whitfield to leave, the report said she responded by looking at him and saying, "(Expletive) you."
Wade then asked Whitfield to put her hands behind her back, and the report said she resisted arrest.
A second deputy, Lyndon Sutton, came to assist with the arrest and both deputies put Whitfield on the ground, where she continued to fight, the report said.
Whitfield then kicked Wade twice in his right leg, according to the report.
She was given a $500 secured bond on the charges. Effler said Wade was fine after the assault.