Four 14-year-old girls were arrested after a pair of separate and unrelated assaults near West Ranch High School and Rancho Pico Junior High School last month that are under investigation by the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
In the first incident, two students ended up being arrested after a fight around 3 p.m. Oct. 11. The fight between two girls occurred near the Starbucks next to West Ranch High.
In that incident, two minors were arrested around 10:20 a.m. the following day, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s Department arrest records.
The charge was suspicion of Section 243(d) of the penal code: “When a battery is committed against any person and serious bodily injury is inflicted on the person.”
Officials with the William S. Hart Union High School District said Wednesday they could not discuss how either incident was resolved, in accordance with the state’s Education Code and privacy laws.
Erum Velek, director of student services and equity, who’s also the former principal of Rancho Pico and Academy of the Canyons, said the district conducted an investigation that ran parallel to the one conducted by the sheriff’s station.
“Appropriate consequences were given and parents were engaged, along with law enforcement,” she said regarding both incidents, adding she would not be able to comment on any aspect of any potential criminal investigations.
SCV Sheriff’s Station officials were not immediately available to discuss the investigation but confirmed the arrests and that the incidents were separate.
The second incident, the following day, Oct. 12, involved several students at the junior high in an incident that drew attention after students posted footage on social media of the violent assault of a another girl.
Two students were arrested on the afternoon of Oct. 16 as the result of the criminal investigation into that incident, according to LASD custody records.
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office did not have any information in terms of charges immediately available as of this publication’s story.
The detective in charge of the investigation was not immediately available for comment, according to the spokesperson for the SCV Sheriff’s Station.
In terms of the school district’s disciplinary response, Velek said, “It’s resolved at the current time.”
She also said the district considered it important to address any safety concerns any students may have and that students know that the district is there to offer therapeutic support for victims when those types of incidents occur or if a student doesn’t feel safe.
The state’s Education Code provides schools with jurisdiction over students’ safety when they’re traveling to and from school, and both incidents were within those parameters, specifically after school, she said.
