14-Year-Old Youth Sent to the Hospital After Alleged Assault During School Lunch Hour in Fortuna

Assault FeatureAt approximately 1 p.m., a 14-year-old boy was allegedly assaulted and sent to the hospital with head, jaw and possibly foot injuries, according to Chief Bill Dobberstein. The incident occurred when the victim and the suspect were on lunch break from Fortuna High School.  The students were near the Fortuna Police Station at the entrance to the alley off of 12th Street .

“He was screaming in a lot of pain,” Dobberstein said. “The suspect was gone when we got there.” The alleged assaulter was a slighter older male student, according to the Chief.

Dobberstein said that officers had been in touch with the administration at Fortuna High School. Someone from the school came to the scene of the alleged assault.

Law enforcement and school officials know who the suspect is and are looking for him.

A Fortuna Police Sergeant was sent to the hospital with the victim, he explained. “I will know more when the officer…gets back.”

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sharon
Guest
6 years ago

Video??? I call bull on no video of stabing victom.

April
Guest
April
6 years ago
Reply to  sharon

What are you talking about it says nothing about a video or stabbing I think you may be confused

Festus Haggen
Guest
Festus Haggen
6 years ago
Reply to  sharon

I kall billl on yur spelchick.

C
Guest
C
6 years ago
Reply to  sharon

What are you talking about?

judi
Guest
judi
6 years ago
Reply to  sharon

you must be lost, sharon.
we’re talking about an incident that happened today in fortuna.

Merilyn Ross
Guest
Merilyn Ross
6 years ago

Getting in between two fighting people may be dangerous if you are not trained in what to do. Calling 911 by bystanders is very appropriate.

Vickie
Guest
Vickie
6 years ago

Interested to see how Fortuna High and the Fortuna Police handle this in light of the recent assault at Zane.

Ms
Guest
Ms
6 years ago
Reply to  Vickie

It did not occur during school or on school campus.

Veterans friend
Guest
Veterans friend
6 years ago
Reply to  Ms

During the school day, the school is responsible. It’s called “en loco parentis”

Irritated
Guest
Irritated
6 years ago
Reply to  Ms

It did actually occur during school hours. They were at lunch.

S. Hansen
Guest
S. Hansen
6 years ago
Reply to  Ms

It happened during lunch.

Deathwalker
Guest
Deathwalker
6 years ago
Reply to  Ms

it was during lunch that’s during school unless things have changed since I was in highschool

Troy Johnson
Guest
Troy Johnson
6 years ago
Reply to  Vickie

If it happened at lunch it’s still during school hours. But I agree with Vickie. Let’s see what happens. Please let’s stop the bullies and live in peace

Sam Sung
Guest
Sam Sung
6 years ago

Sharon… What the F are you talking about?

Gazoo
Guest
Gazoo
6 years ago

Wow, in my day we would go out to the football field and knock the shit out of each other, no cops no video just an old fashion ass kickin, most of the time we all became friends and life went on, these students have a lot of troubles ahead of them like trust and vendettas.
Hug your loved ones.

Big louie
Guest
Big louie
6 years ago
Reply to  Gazoo

You bet all involved needs a big dope slap and a dope slap

Troy Johnson
Guest
Troy Johnson
6 years ago
Reply to  Gazoo

That was from the 40’s to the 80’s. Now they fight with guns and knives. No one knows how to knuckle up and fight right. But we all need to stop the violence……

WTH
Guest
WTH
6 years ago

This crap is getting out of hand! These kids need surious consequences handed down to them. Tired of hearing (and seeing) all of the violence taking place at schools with little being done. When did fighting become the acceptable norm? Smh

Lalai
Guest
Lalai
6 years ago
Reply to  WTH

Then work to make video games and movies have less romanticized violence. They are just modeling the behaviors they see on every screen.
How many hits did kids livestreaming their suicides get??? Facebook needs to be held accountable,leaving those videos up for days while blocking a pic of the statue of David kinda shows where our society is at.

judi
Guest
judi
6 years ago
Reply to  Lalai

there is plenty real & serious, gratuitous violence on the tv news, too.

i think my watching the viet nam war and RFK killed on black and white tv as a little kid prepped me in as far as dulling my senses to violence and gore.

Bj
Guest
Bj
6 years ago
Reply to  WTH

Parents seem to think it’s up to the schools to parent their children. There’s always a lot of blame placed on the school in these instances, but what’s going on behind the scenes here? Seems like the appropriate authorities are attempting to do something about it – but what about the family?

judi
Guest
judi
6 years ago
Reply to  Bj

i’m tired of parents who’s kids get into trouble voicing loudly how the that child would NEVER do such a thing, come up with so many excuses why the kid had to do what they got caught ding, or flat out lieing to protect their kids from consequences. they are only teaching their the kids that to deny their actions and not accept any responsibility.

i’m sure there have been and always will be innocent kids accused of bad behavior they did not do. everyday we hear of someone who was wrongly accused and found guilty in court being freed when proof of their innocence came to light. some after decades of prison.

we all know people who we see do shitty illegal things all day every day and have never been held accountable for any of it.

the few times my son got into trouble, and i knew he did what he was accused of, i never tried to deflect his guilt, nor made excuses. he paid the price of his actions to those he hurt and also in our home. i was so severe he only got in trouble twice by the time he was graduated and went out on his own. he’s still trouble free @ 42 yrs old. (phew-yea!)

i was more afraid of my dad than any police cuz he beat the shit out of for nothing. my son was more afraid of me than the police but believe it or not i refused to ever lift my hand in anger to him, and never did. we used consequences we both agreed on before he got into trouble. he knew before he messed up what he’d face from me if he ever got caught.
i’ve never been on paper ever, most of the women around me have been in jail &/or in prison. several say when they were busted they just owned up to it, did their time and try to put it behind them. they seem to be doing well.
then several will swear that they were innocent but i see by their daily actions they did too do it – they’re still doing it.

i say be certain the accused did it, make the consequences known, reasonable, and make them fit the crime.
society is ramping up as we are moving into very chaotic times. i think you’ll see more vigilantism and self-protection against those who harm us.

at this point, at my age, after all i’ve done and all i’ve seen in my life, after seeing SO MANY people who have no scruples i plan on defending my self with the “eye for an eye” method. i’ll be doing unto others just like they’ve done unto me.

*beware, long boring personal aside about being a good girl and still getting suspended…
in h.s. (1972) i was “caught” smoking in the bathroom. i was not smoking, the instant the actual smoking, girl sitting on the floor behind me, saw the bathroom door opening she flicked her cig at my feet and walked out with her friends.
i was standing at the sink washing my hands.
2 teachers escorted me to the principals office.
no one believed one word i said about it, even though at that point of my life i’d not been in any trouble – being kind of a goody goody, but i was a smoking goody goody. but not IN the school.
i was suspended for 3 days. when mom came to pick me up she was passive aggressively angry at me. i was her 5th kid and she was burned out, but a smoking burnout…lol
she thanked the teachers who “caught” me, and the principal for laying the law down with me. she told the principal, just as she had all my former teachers, to ‘smack her if she needs it. treat her like your own kid’. luckily it was only the uber-repressed catholic nuns at maria gorretti cathoic school- 4th grade – that ever “smacked” me. mom only smacked me once my entire life.

she got me home and told me i had to stay home, i was grounded. then she went back to her life of avoidance and left me with the tv and blissful solitude.

dad came home and got so pissed he whooped the living shit out of me. you know, the “family name” tarnishing thang…

let me tell ya, i still find it hard to smoke with wet soapy hands. 🙂

Dantae
Guest
Dantae
6 years ago

My son was the kid who got beat up the kid ran and jumped him and punched him in the face a few times and bodyslammed him on the ground he’s now having a CAT scan x-rays lab work and then no bystanders helped him at all

Jayhawk707
Guest
Jayhawk707
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

My nephew goes to Fortuna. He is really upset and disappointed that nobody stepped in. Really disappointed in the school in general.

Susan
Guest
Susan
6 years ago
Reply to  Jayhawk707

im the kid that was assaulted I’m using my parents account to look at this, who is your nephew?

Djuana
Guest
Djuana
6 years ago
Reply to  Susan

I am so sorry this happened to you… I hope you will be ok.

Wild West
Guest
Wild West
6 years ago
Reply to  Susan

My son was the victim of a felony assault at SFHS. The bully blindsided him walking out of 5th period classroom. His face was bloody and bruised and the growthplate on his wrist was broken and required an orthopedic surgeon. After more than a year dealing with the DA, all that occurred was a serious loss of income for us, due to out of the area surgeon visits and several days of being required to sit in the halls of the courthouse waiting for results that never came to fruition. The bully that perpetrated the felony assault on my son was never charged with a felony. The Assistant DA actually said to our family that she felt like the awful human “didn’t mean to hurt my son and that the bully was a good boy”. Unbelievable!!!
Do not blindly put your family’s safety and welfare into the hands of the DA’s office, they do not care about the community they oversee.

Sykorah
Guest
Sykorah
6 years ago
Reply to  Jayhawk707

Fortuna High School has always catered to the popular rich kids I tried going there my sophomore year in 1976 but I quickly realized I did not belong there I was appalled at how vicious many of the girls were I lasted 2 months and one day I just went in the back door to go to class instead just walked out the front door walked home and never went back I have never been impressed with FHS I finished high school at a boarding Academy in Oregon got a much better education and went on to become a college graduate I probably would have never gone that far if I had been forced to stay at Fortuna High

Nikki
Guest
Nikki
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

That’s horrible, I’m sorry this happened to your son, I’d be at my wits end pissed…. I hope the jerk pays for what he did…

Dantae
Guest
Dantae
6 years ago
Reply to  Nikki

Thank you. Let’s hope the DA takes it seriously

Wild West
Guest
Wild West
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

Don’t count on the DA.
My son was a victim of a felony assault at school, with severe injuries including a broken growthplate in his wrist from being thrown to the cement (January 2016). After more than a year of going to sit in the halls at the courthouse, the bully was never charged with a felony and my family was told by the Assistant DA, “I don’t think that the boy meant to hurt you and that she thought he (the bully) was a good boy”. I wrote letters to the DA and voiced our concerns, unfortunately they do not care about the community they work for.
It is an elected position…

Courtney
Guest
Courtney
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

I’m so sorry for your son and what happened to him. I went to Fortuna high and so did my son for a year. It’s horrible there. Used to be a good school in the 90’s but now the principal is garbage.

Renae
Guest
Renae
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

I’m sorry this happened to your family. I hope for a speedy recovery for your son.

Ben Round
Guest
Ben Round
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

That no one stepped in for your son is very sad and telling.
When I was a teen, people would stand and watch. These days I know there are schools with ‘Teen Courts’ and ‘Restorative Justice’ programs to help teens learn how to deal with and prevent harm. If Fortuna doesn’t have those options, NOW is the time for them to adopt such opportunities. There are students/ leaders who will support it.

Doreen
Guest
Doreen
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

I was the by stander that helped while other students stood and watched, I sincerely hope he is ok,my thoughts are with your family!

Tab
Guest
Tab
6 years ago
Reply to  Doreen

Do u know who the other person that was in the fight

Paula
Guest
Paula
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

I am so sorry this has happened to you. It’s sad that the schools don’t take bullying seriously until something like this happens. I wish your son a safe and speedy recovery.

Oralee McAlexander
Guest
Oralee McAlexander
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

Oh wow! I’m so sorry this happened to your son 🙁 I hope he is ok & that they find the creep that did this!!!

CArmstrong
Guest
CArmstrong
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

Not one kid helped or tried to stop it? What kind of people are theses parents raising?

judi
Guest
judi
6 years ago
Reply to  CArmstrong

was the attacker bigger or older than the 14 yr old who was beaten?
were the kids watching in the 14 yr age range, too?
were there a group of kids watching?
maybe if there were more than 5 14 yr old’s watching i’d expect to see them try to stop the assault.

i’m not sure, i don’t think i’d encourage another “kid” or 2 04 3 to intervene in a vicious attack against another “kid”. yes, call “911” or run and find some adult who’s willing to intervene.

who knows what the attacker is capable of? we see how easily someone can be stabbed to death in a fight, it can happen to someone intervening, too.
who’s to say the attacker has a long memory and the people intervening will forever be on this aholes shit list, or what he’s truly capable of?

*sigh*

and i think a lot of the parents in 4tuna are rednecks of the good old boy ilk. they think fighting is an expected right of passage and tell jr. to fight like a man and hit them when they least expect it and dread their child embarrassing them to their friends…throw the 1st punch to win and fight dirty…

S. Hansen
Guest
S. Hansen
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

Prayers for your son. Been there with my daughter 🙁 This crap is out of control!

Kar
Guest
Kar
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

That is horrifying. I feel so sad you are going through this right now. I will keep your family in my thoughts.

XXX
Guest
XXX
6 years ago
Reply to  Dantae

I’m so sorry this happened to your son! I hope that appropriate punishment is handed out to the attacker! I’m so glad that I don’t have to worry about sending kids to public schools anymore…so much has changed! Prayers that your son is not seriously injured and heals quickly! And not just the physical injuries but from the emotional and mental trauma as well!

Dantae
Guest
Dantae
6 years ago

It did happen during school in lunch!!

sharon
Guest
6 years ago

Sam sung, my point is almost everything is videod these days. So i find it hard to believe the stabbing in arcata wasn’t videod! Got it now?

sharon
Guest
6 years ago

So so so sorry to this mom and victom. My prayers to you.

Festus Haggen
Guest
Festus Haggen
6 years ago
Reply to  sharon

mybe it not spillchick.

Walter Jackson
Guest
6 years ago

Fights in school is as common as asking a girl to the Prom. It’s part of growing up. Back in the day, Students would gather around the combatants and cheer on their favorite person. The fight usually ended with a nose bleed or fat lip. Most of the time a teacher would break it up. Now, Students don’t fight fair. The use of weapons are usually used in disagreements with the outcome being tragic or a bigger stronger student (a bully) picks on a smaller student. In any case fighting is not a way to settle disagreements in school. If it happened off campus than the school has no jurisdiction unless the students were documented during the morning Roll Call. Then the school can take action besides the Police Department for pending assault charges. I hope the victim is going to be fine and it will be interesting as to the out come of this incident. The FPD doesn’t have cameras outside of their Police Station? If they don’t then they should.

Deeply Saddened
Guest
Deeply Saddened
6 years ago

I’m am absolutely sickened by this and my heart breaks for the family. I came upon the scene as the ambulance arrived. I send all of my positive thoughts to the young victim and his family. NOBODY deserves to be assaulted EVER! It could’ve been anyone’s child in this circumstance. The suspect and all of capable bystanders that did nothing are cowards in my opinion. I didn’t see the attack but trust me when I say, if I had, as a woman I wouldn’t have hesitated to try to break it up and help the young man. Coming up on a young person crying in pain, laying helpless on the ground does not leave your mind. I truly hope the school deals with this quickly and I hope the young victim can return to school and feel SAFE as ALL kids should! Heal fast young man!!

Susan
Guest
Susan
6 years ago

Thank you! my name is Brandon tovar It was hard to try and fight back I didn’t have a chance

XXX
Guest
XXX
6 years ago
Reply to  Susan

I’m so sorry, Brandon! Please take the time you need to heal, physically, emotionally and mentally! Know that a lot of people care about what happened to you and wish you well! Prayers and positive thoughts for you! 🌟🌟🌟

Brandon
Guest
Brandon
6 years ago
Reply to  XXX

Thank you!!

Brandon
Guest
Brandon
6 years ago

I am the boy that was assulted, my name is Brandon Tovar. I remember little of the fight but I do remember hearing you talk to everyone about not helping me. I appreciate your help.

G-MAS
Guest
G-MAS
6 years ago

I hope your son will be ok. When they find the person responsible for this his parents might be held accountable for your bills.

Crime stopper
Guest
Crime stopper
6 years ago

There goes the “friendly City” image again and again and again. How about replacing the signs with the ole “Sunny city” and get past this falsehood of words?

Me_too
Guest
Me_too
6 years ago

Sad thing is that the school is so desperate for funding that this kid will get off with a slap on the hand. Same shit is happening across the county. There is plenty of money to have a cop on campus, but nothing for basic student monitoring staff. Principal will sweep this under the carpet. Remember what happened to the kids who tried to make a bomb at Fortuna high?

*****
Guest
*****
6 years ago

Yes this may have been way out of line but by no means is this “victim” innocent he was assulting my daughter screaming at her calling her all kinds of vulgar names. So before you judge you should know all the facts of the case

Susan
Guest
Susan
6 years ago
Reply to  *****

Your daughter is not a victim so don’t play her out to be. I know all the facts because he was my son and your daughter has been calling him racial slurs for weeks. And your son assaulted my son while he was walking to lunch and then ran away. So maybe you should stop trying to make your daughter out to be innocent because my son never ever touched her. There are literally dozens upon dozens upon dozens of witnesses to this whole entire issue.’Maybe you should teach you daughter not to be a racist and teach your son not to be violent and do a sneak attack on someone unsuspecting. So focus on being a parent and stop trying to place the blame on a true victim. Maybe if you raised you kids properly this would of never happened. So get off social media and go take some parenting classes. Clearly you need them

Bigmeat707
Guest
Bigmeat707
6 years ago
Reply to  *****

So calling someone “vulgar” names is means for getting hurt enough to be sent to a hospital? Apperantly you have raised your kids wrong. Remeber sticks and stones? If she was being physically harmed i get it, not for calling names

Michelle Steele
Guest
Michelle Steele
6 years ago

I think if kids are being bullied in school then the parents need to set down decipline rules at home and figure out what there doing to make these kids like they are.. Better yet let’s all take our kids out of school that are Bullied and home school them. Parents and children go to school to get a good education not to be bullied like they are.. let’s have a Probation officer lock these kids up and let them go to school in Juvenile Hall Instead.. Kids learn what there taught at home most of the time but also once in awhile they will learn things from hanging out with the wrong group of people so parents should know who there kids are hanging out with and if they see anything that’s not right then do not let them hang out. Simple as that…. I have a son who was also bullied at school and was hit with a chair In class and he went to McKinleyville schools all his life. The kid that did this was new to the area but it is still no excuse to be bullied and my son did tell the principal about the incident. The kid was never suspended. Sad our kids can not be safe anymore anywhere now days…. SAD SAD WORLD WE LIVE IN

From_Hoopa_w_
Guest
From_Hoopa_w_
6 years ago

Stop removing the bullies from school and start making their parents pay! Whether jail time or fine!!

Local
Guest
Local
6 years ago

I went to Arcata high about 10 years ago and at the end the year there was always lots of fights. Everyone is excited about summer and kids felt the need to settle grudges before school got out….

Susan
Guest
Susan
6 years ago

Not only that I have at least 30 people who have told me that your son and daughter are both racist and your son is a really bad kid. MmmmI wonder where they get their attitudes from?? You raised your two kids like this and you want to put the blame on MY son who was terribly assaulted??? Not just a little tussle but a horrible assault?? How dare you try
to blame my son???? Yes he was an innocent victim and it’s so called parents like who raise children to be racists and who believe that violently assaulting someone is ok. You sickening and pathetic.

angie
Guest
angie
6 years ago
Reply to  Susan

Wait…in earlier posts you said you were the one assaulted? Now its your son? Trying to understand…

XXX
Guest
XXX
6 years ago
Reply to  angie

A couple of times Susan’s son typed comments under her name. He mentioned that in the first comment he typed.

Susan
Guest
Susan
6 years ago

I suppose you think that poor girl at Zane deserved to get assaulted and videotaped as well??? POS

humboldtmama67
Guest
humboldtmama67
6 years ago

Since when do words translate to beating the crap out of somebody and hospitalizing them? I am in no way condoning bullying but, if your daughter was bullied and she didn’t go to an adult at the school and get it dealt with then that is on her. NO ONE has the right to put their hands on another person without said person’s approval. Do you have to pay any medical bills for your daughter like this poor mother has to pay for her son? Her son may suffer long term physical damage due to this so-called well deserved beating for running his mouth! GOD this crap pisses me off and makes me want to home school my kid!

Bigmeat707
Guest
Bigmeat707
6 years ago

For people to ask why this is happening so much now days, its always been happening. Since the beggining kids would fight each other. Hand to hand one on one. Settle their problems then go about their day. I had one kid in school for whatever reason we didnt like each other. We would fight almost daily. Black eyes, bloody noses no one ever got sent to the hospital. We became friends and are still friends 20 years later. Kids are jist punks these days. No reason to beat people until they are hurt bad enough to ne hospitalized. Just my 2 cents

Momma Bear
Guest
Momma Bear
6 years ago

Apples do not fall to far from the tree – many of these hoodlums come from families that did not even grow up in this area. Transplants who do not give a damn about our community. Look at the parents of these little assholes and you will see that the apple does not fall too far from the tree. We have a lot of scum bags around. Time to drain our swamp.

the problem with protocol
Guest
the problem with protocol
6 years ago

Kym, please stop reporting schoolyard fights and minors in trouble. You know as well as anybody what kind of attention it begets. Parents will find out from peers and school officials. Yes info is widely available to everybody but you also know internet trolls dont hunt for this stuff. Its already on the kids records, and their names might as well be on your site when you put it out there for everybody. You can already see it happening years after, idiots pointing out kids who dont deserve the attention years down the line. Its poor taste considering what every mature adult knows of crime blogs at this point.

the problem with protocol
Guest
the problem with protocol
6 years ago

Im sickened by the lifeless adults throwing CHILDRENS dirty laundry out for the world, some of these comments are very disturbing, and it happens every time. This blog is on record forever.

Susan
Guest
Susan
6 years ago

This is not in poor taste Kym. I mean that you reported it. It should be reported. It’s something that should be known. I am so grateful for all the outpouring of kindness and thoughtfulness from everyone. Your reporting has enabled people to actually help my family and I get through this traumatic situation. I have read some of these posts to my son and to be honest with you it has helped him knowing that there are so many good people out there in our community. Thank you

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago

There is no real world where hiding problems fixes them. Societal disapproval is a powerful tool to effect change in a child who is simply not getting needed guidance from his disfunctional parents, guardians or social workers. Probably the only truly effective tool left in a world where violence is perceived by so many as entertainment or at best a ‘cry for help’ from the perpetrators.

Frankly such an assault should be very hard to live down. Much better to be embarassed by going there and deciding never again than being confused about whether it was really so bad.

Loon
Guest
Loon
6 years ago

Kym keep up the reporting peoeare actually probly saying what they have wanted to for some time but never could. Now they can and are. Communication no mtter how it happens is sooooo important thx

Susan
Guest
Susan
6 years ago

Actually I am grateful that this was posted so people are aware. And the father of the kid who assaulted my son was in the school today ranting and raving about his son being arrested for school for assault and apparently his family are trying to find out where we live and all day my son is fearing that they will come to hurt him. He is traumatized and in so much pain and was in and out of consciousness during the incident. Thankfully today he can’t remember all of what happened. I say thankfully because he is so emotionally distraught that he doesn’t want to return to school because he fears that someone in this family will “jump him” again. I have to say that the Fortuna PD was awesome and came to my home today to check on my son and to let him know that this kid was arrested on assault and battery charges. Thank you again Kym for your reporting and a heartfelt thank you to all of you for your kind words and prayers. Even though I don’t know you, you truly have helped me and my family knowing there are some amazing people in our community who truly are caring and compassionate individuals. Thank you with all my heart