Baldwin High School assault on video: student arrested, security boosted

Maui police arrested a student after a video of a campus assault at Baldwin High School in Wailuku went viral. A second resource officer has been deployed.

Maui student arrested after campus assault filmed by bystanders

Maui police have arrested a student and increased security at Baldwin High School in Wailuku following a video of an on-campus assault that became part of a criminal investigation, hawaiinewsnow.com reports.

The footage, recorded on a Monday on school grounds, is blurred due to the involvement of minors. It shows a boy kicking and punching another boy for nearly a minute while the victim attempts to walk away. Bystanders watch and laugh as someone films the attack. The victim falls to the ground after a kick to the head before an adult intervenes.

Lt. Grant Hutaff-Nakamura, commander of the Maui Police Department's Juvenile Crime Prevention Division, said the victim made no attempt to retaliate.

"The boy was not fighting back. He was just walking away trying to diffuse the situation and he got attacked," Hutaff-Nakamura said. "That's unacceptable."

Jamie Nahooikaika, a Wailuku mother and alumna of Baldwin High, described the video as deeply disappointing.

"That's just very disappointing, especially because the other boy was just walking. But to also have friends that encourage that is very, very disappointing," she said.

Three days after the attack, Hawaii News Now contacted the state Department of Education for comment. Within hours, school administrators notified parents by letter and also reached out to police that same day.

The suspect was arrested on an assault charge. A second student resource officer has since been assigned to the Baldwin campus.

"They should feel safe coming to school. School should be a safe place and that's what we want to make it," Hutaff-Nakamura said.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)