UPDATED: 'Wolf pack' of bullies arrested at Upper Darby High
Six students from Upper Darby High's Opportunity Center, ranging from 13 to 17 years old, were arrested this morning at school for what township police Superintendent Michael Chitwood called a "heinous" act of bullying earlier this month that was caught on camera.
UPDATED: 'Wolf pack' of bullies arrested at Upper Darby High
William Bender
Six students from Upper Darby High's Opportunity Center, ranging from 13 to 17 years old, were arrested this morning at school for what township police Superintendent Michael Chitwood called a “heinous” act of bullying earlier this month that was caught on camera.
The teens have been charged with kidnapping, unlawful restraint and related offenses for dragging a 13-year-old student through the snow, tossing him in a tree and hanging him by his coat on a metal fence post. Police are searching for one more kid they think was involved.
“Seven on one, that’s a wolf pack,” Chitwood said.
The terrified victim was screaming for the kids to stop, but no one at the apartment complex where the incident occurred called 9-1-1, police said. The bullies are heard laughing maniacally throughout the video, which was recorded on a 17-year-old’s cell phone.
“They thought it was a joke,” Chitwood said.
Police want to send a message by arresting the kids at school: If you bully or threaten other students, Chitwood said, “You're gonna take a hike in handcuffs and in a wagon.”
Update: A couple hours ago, I showed the video to the 13-year-old victim, Nadin, and his mom and dad, Rebecca and Eric. It was the first time they had seen it. They were planning to go to the police station tomorrow to watch it themselves.
"Are you kidding me? Are you serious?" Rebecca said as she watched the video in her living room, shaking her head in disbelief. After about a minute, tears welled up in her eyes. "I can’t watch it," she said, turning away from the screen. "I’m just speechless. What did he do to deserve it?"
"I was surprised nobody called police" at the apartment complex, Nadin said.
Today's story.
Lock them up Mike. Drag their parents in and tell them they are next if these thugs don't straighten up. Good job. Wish you were back in the city.- hope and change you can believe in!— pb2824
- It will be a joke when, for their punishment, the football thing does the same thing to the wolves. I'd like to see that posted on U-tube.— ivyrose321
I'm an alumni of UDHS. Although it was awhile back, we NEVER had to worry about stuff like this. The worst thing we could do was to get caught smoking in the lavatories. I used to walk to and from work through Naylor's Run Park. Now I would need to pack my .45 to do that. When I hear Upper Darby is the new West Philly, I certainly understand what that means. Fortunately, my parents are buried in Broomall, but I still pack my gun when I go to put flowers on their grave!— PattyJo
Comment removed.- PattyJo, you are an alumna (singular feminine; alumnae, plural feminine), not an alumni (plural for male or mixed gender), or an alumnus (male, singular). — Joanna1
- Pattyjo, not quite sure when you went skipping thru Naylors run, but I went to high school in the early 80s and Naylors run was bad then. Also, these kids live at the Park Lane complex which as long I can remember has been bad.— mfeq
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- I'm sure the accused will grow up to be model citizens and pillars in their community. What's sad is that you really can't even blame the kids. Without discipline, rules, and a solid example set at home; kids will do this kind of thing. The parents (or more likely parent) should be ashamed of themselves. And 20 years from now, when they can't get a job and have a grocery list length of criminal offenses on their record, they'll complain that society has wronged them and the "man" is holding them down. Pathetic and disheartening. Until the community decides to change itself, nothing will change. The school system, government programs, welfare, none of it will help without a fundamental mindset change. "Thuglife" has ruined most of the working class city areas of Philadelphia and the country for that matter.— dflpfan
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- r u SERIOUS?!? What a shame that's what's in yer 'mind' Porky. — chris-odessa, ua
- This comment has been deleted.— MrBigDizzle
- What? First off, the only racist comments I see here are very subtle so it's safe to assume they're from cowards. Why waste your time with them? Secondly, when did anyone say white people were "sooooo pure?"
You realize that your comments just fuel the racist fire, right? For all you know, those comments were from an asian, or a hispanic, yet you assume the only racist people here are white.
Defending racism with racism, nice hypocrisy MrBig.
"White people are the most heinous and brutal animals on the planet. Check history!!!"
What history are you referring to? Perhaps you should brush up on your biology instead, and realize that we are all the same heinous, brutal animal no matter what color our skin is. - Really? This is news? Come on Chitwood, do something more useful with your time than a high school fight. This stuff happened when I graduated from UDHS in '05 and it was never newsworthy, let alone a big deal. Make a real arrest of a real criminal Mike.
- This happens all the time at UDHS. If you attempt to report these incidents to the police they tell you that they work in conjunction with the school and the school will handle it. And, according to UDHS policy if this victim would have raised his hands to defend himself HE would have been charged with fighting under their zero tolerance policy. What a joke! There is no way the school was not aware of this bullying. They just chose to do nothing!— kraymon
