05-12-2004, 09:10 PM
GARLAND, Texas (May 12) - Nearly three dozen people, including 27 high school students, have been arrested and charged with participating in a gang street fight organized on the Internet and videotaped.
The tape helped investigators identify the students involved in the off-campus fight March 3. The suspects attended Garland High School or South Garland High School, whose members arranged the time and place on the Internet, police Officer Joe Harn said.
Several participants were injured, including one person who suffered a broken arm.
A grand jury indicted 34 people, aged 14 to 21, for riot participation/aggravated assault/serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison.
All but one has been arrested, Harn said Wednesday. The other person is believed to have fled to Mexico. Five of those indicted were female, and 18 were juveniles.
Gilberto Silva, whose sister was among those charged, said police arrested everyone in the videotape, whether they were fighting or not.
''It was just a regular fight,'' Silva told The Dallas Morning News. ''A riot is when innocent people get hurt. No innocent people got hurt.''
Harn said 50 to 60 people were at the fight scene. All those indicted were participants in the fight. ''That doesn't mean everyone threw a blow,'' the officer told The Associated Press.
Diana Rodriguez said her husband, Garland High senior Daniel Moncilla, didn't hit anyone.
''All he did was break it up. He was trying to separate the guys,'' she said
The tape helped investigators identify the students involved in the off-campus fight March 3. The suspects attended Garland High School or South Garland High School, whose members arranged the time and place on the Internet, police Officer Joe Harn said.
Several participants were injured, including one person who suffered a broken arm.
A grand jury indicted 34 people, aged 14 to 21, for riot participation/aggravated assault/serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison.
All but one has been arrested, Harn said Wednesday. The other person is believed to have fled to Mexico. Five of those indicted were female, and 18 were juveniles.
Gilberto Silva, whose sister was among those charged, said police arrested everyone in the videotape, whether they were fighting or not.
''It was just a regular fight,'' Silva told The Dallas Morning News. ''A riot is when innocent people get hurt. No innocent people got hurt.''
Harn said 50 to 60 people were at the fight scene. All those indicted were participants in the fight. ''That doesn't mean everyone threw a blow,'' the officer told The Associated Press.
Diana Rodriguez said her husband, Garland High senior Daniel Moncilla, didn't hit anyone.
''All he did was break it up. He was trying to separate the guys,'' she said
