Four adults—armed with a knife and brass knuckles—attacked a student outside Sayreville War Memorial High School on Thursday afternoon, after a boy summoned his brother, who showed up with three other men, to settle a dispute with another pupil.
Police said the melee outside the public high school in the Parlin section of Sayreville, in Middlesex County, was instigated by the student who called in his brother to assault the student with whom he had been arguing.
The dispute turned into something much more serious than a simple schoolyard brawl, when the four adult men allegedly ganged up on the teenager after school — one of them armed with a knife and another carrying brass knuckles.
The victim was not injured by the apparent object and student sustained minor injuries from the assault.
According to police, after a normal school dismissal on Thursday afternoon, the adult family members and associates of one of the students involved themselves in the dispute outside Sayreville High School.
Video evidence captured by bystanders showed one adult appear to brandish a knife as the gang assaulted one of the students.
Police say that involvement was instigated by a student who called in his adult brother and three other men he knew to attack another student with whom he had been arguing.
Police posted the suspects’ photos and alerted the community about the incident that occurred in front of the high school and about two hours later, four suspects were arrested.
The victim of the attack was not cut by the knife and police said that he suffered only minor injuries.
School district officials declined to comment about any possible suspensions or punishments for the student who allegedly called for the violence.
Christopher Edward Torres, 24, of Staten Island, has been charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit assault.
David Martinez, 27, of Staten Island, has been charged with possession of metal knuckles.
Christopher Anthony Forlenza, 25, of Brooklyn, was charged with conspiracy to commit assault.
Jermemiah Jason DiMedici, 19, of Staten Island, was charged with assault and conspiracy to commit assault.
Video showed the grown men attacking the teenager amid a crowd of other students yelling around them, after the quartet had been waiting outside. A student at the school told NBC New York she could see the victim trying to run away from the man who allegedly came with a knife.
“No one really knew who he was, we just saw like a random guy on our school,” said senior Paul Arias of the man with the knife.
“I was there picking up my child and witnessed the attack,” said parent Elizabeth Lang Jones. “I have to commend the Sayreville police who arrived promptly and was able to get everything under control in minutes.”
Besides a knife, one of the four in the attack was found with metal knuckles in his possession.
The four suspects were quickly arrested by Sayreville Police, and between the ages of 19 and 29. Three of the arrested live in Staten Island, the fourth lives in Brooklyn, police said.
All four — described as a “posse” by one official — face various assault, conspiracy to assault and weapons charges in New Jersey.
Security was ratcheted up on Friday at the start and end of the school day for an incident still murky in its origins. Police have only said that some sort of altercation — not violent — between the two students during the school day lead to one of them calling in brother and friends to attack the other.
Christopher Edward Torres, 24; David Martinez, 27; and Jermemiah Dimedici, 19, all of Staten Island, were among those charged in the incident, according to police.
Torres was charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit assault; Martinez was charged with possession of metal knuckles; and Dimedici was charged with assault and conspiracy to commit assault, Sayreville police said.
Video evidence allegedly captures an adult brandish what appears to be a knife and assault the student.
A collective effort from school resource officers, school security, and administrators resulted in two suspects being arrested at nearby Kennedy Park, police said.
The other three suspects fled by foot, but the Middlesex County K9 unit responded to track the defendants, according to police.
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