Lake Station police have charged two teens in connection with a fight at a high school football game last Friday, authorities said.
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Authorities were called to a River Forest-Lake Station football game on Friday night where they found a River Forest High School student with multiple injuries. One of the suspects fled and officers received “conflicting statements” in the immediate aftermath, Lake Station Police Chief Johnson said in an email statement Wednesday.
Police arrested a 14-year-old on charges of aggravated battery resulting in bodily injury and intimidation, Johnson said. A second teen, 13, was arrested on charges of battery and intimidation, Johnson said. Lake Station police are not identifying either suspect, because they are juveniles.
The River Forest student was transported to a hospital. The Post-Tribune is not identifying the student, because he is a juvenile. Officials at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital confirmed the student has since been released.
Lake Station and New Chicago Police have investigated the incident, Johnson said.
An online fundraiser set up for the injured student said in a post late Sunday the student was “now home and relaxing” after previously being in a medically induced coma.
A description on the site said the page was set up to help the injured student’s family with medical expenses. By Tuesday evening, $1,750 of the $10,000 goal had been raised.
Edison High School Principal Christine Pepa was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday evening. On the school’s Facebook page, she wrote on Saturday that “an altercation occurred” between a visitor from the visiting school and an Edison student “outside the football stadium while walking to the parking lot.”
“We have zero tolerance for bullying and fighting; as student safety is our priority at Lake Station Community Schools and Edison Junior Senior High School,” Pepa said. “We will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as well as the other school’s administration.”
Pepa said that “due to juvenile and student privacy rights, we cannot comment on details regarding the students involved, but are disciplining according to our student handbook and school policy.”
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