Student Resists Officer During a Fight at a Pinellas Park middle mchool and Results in Officer Deploying his Taser

Student Resists Officer During a Fight at a Pinellas Park middle school and Results in Officer Deploying his Taser

A Pinellas Park Police School Resource Officer (SRO) at Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School deployed his taser to control a female student after a fight in the bus circle area of the school.

Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School is located at 6410 118th Avenue N in Pinellas Park.

On Thursday, December 14, 2017 at approximately 4:00 p.m., during the dismissal for Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School several students were in the process of boarding their school buses when a physical fight broke out between two female students in the bus circle area of the school.

A Pinellas Park Police School Resource Officer (SRO) assigned to the middle school attempted to break up the fight.  One of the juvenile females involved in the fight continued to actively fight with the other female student and was refusing to comply with the commands being given to her by the SRO.  The SRO continued to provide commands to this same juvenile female who was now physically resisting the officer. According to police, the female juvenile then verbally threatened to strike the officer, and then attempted to run from the SRO.

The officer deployed his department issued taser to gain control of the female student at which time she was detained.  The other female student involved in the fight managed to get on her school bus and left the campus.  That female student was identified and contact was made with her by staff members of the school.  The SRO will be working with the school staff to determine what disciplinary action or criminal charges if any will be placed on the female student who left on the bus.

Paramedics were summoned to the school to medically clear the female student who was tasered and who suffered only minor injuries as a result of the fight.  Criminal charges on this female student are being referred to the State Attorney’s Office and she was released to the custody of her mother at the school.

According to Pinellas Park Police, no further information is expected to be released in this case.