UPDATE: Rival athletes arrested for fighting

A fight that broke out at Crestview High School basketball game resulted in the arrest of several high school students.

Most of those involved in the fight were athletes from rival high schools in Crestview, Fort Walton Beach and Niceville, officials said. Some played both basketball and football. A few of the players are considered star athletes.

“It was among Okaloosa County school rivals,” Crestview High School Principal Ed Coleman said. “It didn’t last for maybe 30 seconds before it was broken up. Once the commotion started, the Crestview Police Department was called to the scene and handled the investigation.”

The teenagers face suspension from school and misdemeanor criminal charges.

Although the Crestview Police Department has not confirmed the number of students arrested, Coleman said it was his understanding eight arrests had been made.

One combatant told an officer with the Crestview Police Department, the fight stemmed from an incident at a Crestview-Niceville game last week “where a fight almost occurred.”

All but two of those involved in the fight are under the age of 18. Three of the students are enrolled at Crestview High School.

Coleman said he could not speak to disciplinary action taken by principals at Fort Walton Beach or Niceville. He said it is policy at Crestview High School to suspend students from school for five days if they participate in a fight.

Students who have been suspended for fighting before, can be suspended for 10 days for a second offense. None of the Crestview High School students had been suspended before for fighting.

In addition, suspended athletes at Crestview High School will not be allowed to participate in sports or any other after-school activities until their suspension is over.

Coleman said it is up to the coaches to decide what additional penalties the athletes will face once they return to school. It is possible the students might have to make up missed practices and sit out a game or two.

“That’s between the players and the coaches,” Coleman said.

The mother of one boy told officers she was leaving the gym with her son when they were confronted by several boys who told the boy he “wasn’t in Fort Walton.”

“You in Crestview now, what’s up,” one member of the group reportedly said before jumping the boy.

One witness said “there were a lot of people involved” in the fight, which he believe was sparked by school rivalries.

One person told police one boy was “on the ground and six to 10 boys were hitting him and ‘kicking him really bad.’”

Adults at the scene helped break up the fight, the report states.

One of the minors involved in the fight was charged with fleeing the scene and resisting an officer without violence.