Police Dispatch

The Jerks Stopped Short Of A Wedgie

Irvington and Mission Roads, Jan. 30, 4:30 p.m.

A group of schoolyard bullies used anti-German epithets while tormenting a boy who was waiting for class to begin, according to a Pima County Sheriff's Department report.

The 14-year-old middle schooler was reportedly waiting outside a portable classroom for his first-period class when three boys sauntered up. One of the boys put the victim in a choke hold and "kind of picked his head up," while another wrapped a yo-yo around his wrists, the report stated.

The boy said he told them to stop, but they didn't; he reported that the boy holding him by his neck eventually released him, and he was able to remove the stricture from his wrists. The boy walked down the ramp leading to the portable door, and the bully who had put him in the headlock once again seized him by the neck and kicked him in the shin, he alleged.

While he was being kicked, another bully reportedly called him "'Hitler Junior' and told him to go back to Germany."

It was not immediately clear if other students saw the exchange, as names were blacked out in the report. However, the report did say two people "were just standing there laughing while all this happened," according to the boy.

The victim was reportedly quite upset and got a pass from a teacher to go visit the school counselor, who was not available at the time. He reportedly tried to visit the counselor again during sixth period; the counselor "deemed it as being a scuffle or just goofing around, horse playing, with the kids," the report said.

The boy's parents told a deputy they were concerned about their son's well-being, especially as his alleged assailants had given him a hard time before and had used what they deemed "racial slurs."

One of the accused boys said the group had just been goofing off "like kids do" and admitted the victim had been put in a headlock and had his wrists bound. But he said he thought the boy had taken it as a joke. The second said he grabbed the victim around the neck from behind and admitted kicking him. The third said he didn't understand what a lawyer or attorney were and wasn't immediately questioned by authorities as a result.

The victim's parents were upset that a 911 report had not been made by the school and that the school-resource officer had not been notified of the incident in a timely manner.