Deputies investigating huge fight in front of Perris High School interrupted by report of simultaneous armed robbery at same intersection

Trevor Montgomery

Riverside County News Source

 

PERRIS – On Wednesday, December 9, the Riverside Sheriff’s Dispatch Center was flooded with multiple 911 calls reporting a huge fight occurring in front of Perris High School, located in the 100  block of E Nuevo Rd, in the city of Perris.

Estimates from a number of 911 callers reported seeing between 100-200 juveniles in the middle of the street, with many involved in one or more physical altercations. Some callers advised seeing multiple fights breaking out at different locations in the streets and parks in the neighborhood around the school.

With tensions and fear still running high after the previous day’s incident involving a juvenile who shot another juvenile in the head outside a Mc Donald’s restaurant across the street from the same school, many deputies were already in the area, providing extra patrol and coverage around the school.

The first responding deputy arrived less than one minute after the initial dispatch regarding the huge brawl, that was reported at about 1:40 p.m. Upon arrival, the sole deputy confirmed finding small, scattered groups of youth actively engaged in physical altercations, with hordes of juveniles surrounding and cheering on the fights.

Upon seeing the deputies arrival, many of the witnesses and combatants began to flee the area in every direction. Some were seen jumping over residential walls and running through private properties. The deputy immediately called for priority back up, requesting multiple deputies and additional resources to the location.

In addition to requesting more deputies to assist with traffic control, to ensure the safety of those running through the streets as well as those still actively engaged in sporadic fights, the deputy requested assistance from the department’s Aviation Unit and radioed for emergency first responders to stage nearby, in case any injuries were reported.

The deputy quickly found one specific physical altercation occurring between several females a short distance from the front of the school. As countless other deputies flooded into the area, the initial responding deputy detained those first subjects he had observed fighting.

Star 98, the newest addition to the Sheriff’s Aviation Unit, arrived overhead approximately eight minutes after the initial dispatch and began to assist additional responding deputies in setting up a perimeter and identifying pockets of additional fights occurring in the streets around the school, as well as at Copper Creek Park and Panther Park.

At about 1:56 p.m., while multiple responding deputies were working to bring the chaos surrounding the school under control, Sheriff’s Dispatch received a silent robbery alarm across the street from the high school at an auto-parts business, located in the 1600 block of N. Perris Bvd.

Deputies, who were already on-scene assisting with the fight call immediately responded to the business, arriving within 30 seconds of the initial dispatch. As deputies cautiously approached the store, they were immediately flagged down by employees, who advised a male adult had just robbed their business, possibly using a handgun. The victims stated they did not see the weapon, however, the alleged suspect claimed he had a handgun pointed at the victims from inside his pocket.

Witnesses stated they could still see the suspect, who was across the parking lot near a bus stop. Deputies immediately confronted the alleged suspect at gunpoint and requested additional priority back up.

Within moments, Star 97 advised from overhead that the suspect was fighting with deputies and actively resisting arrest. As more deputies began to arrive at the scene of the reported robbery, the alleged suspect was taken into custody.

Within minutes, deputies determined that while the robbery occurred at the same time as the fights, at the exact same intersection, the two incidents were not related. As deputies continued their investigation into the reported robbery, other deputies on-scene continued

to finish investigating the large fight. A number of additional individuals deputies identified as the primary combatants in the multiple physical altercations were detained.

During their investigation, several streets around the high school and surrounding neighborhoods were filled with patrol deputies, traffic units, supervisors and school administrators, investigating the fights.

By 2:40 p.m., approximately one hour after the initial 911 calls were received, the streets and parks around the school had been cleared and a number of subjects had been detained in connection with the fights. The two simultaneous incident brought chaos and pandemonium to the area and snarled all traffic in the surrounding streets to a crawl. Those suspected of involvement in the fights were taken back to the high school for further investigation and interviews.

Deputy Michael Vasquez, Media Information Officer for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, confirmed the arrest of the suspect involved in the robbery at Auto Zone. Deputy Vasquez stated no gun was actually used during the robbery and that the suspect had feigned having a weapon inside his pocket. Deputy Vasquez had no further information available regarding the suspect’s identification or disposition following his arrest.

Regarding the reported fight, Deputy Vasquez was not able to provide any further updated information about that incident and stated the investigation was still active and ongoing.

Anyone with information regarding either incident is encouraged to contact the Perris Police Station at (951) 210-1000. Callers can remain anonymous.

 

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