Four charged following bus incident
This photo, taken in Hope by volunteer assistant football coach Tim Turner, shows the shattered glass from a projectile that struck a bus carrying the Lakeside High football team as it was leaving Clark Fork after a game Friday night. The projectile went through the bottom right corner of the window; more of the glass shattered as the bus was driven roughly 9 miles from Clark Fork.
(Photo courtesy TIM TURNER)
SANDPOINT — Three juveniles have been charged with felony warrants and a fourth summoned to court following their confession in which one suspect admitted to allegedly throwing a rock through an occupied Plummer-Worley Joint School District school bus on Sept. 11, according to a press release from the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office.
One 17-year-old was arrested and charged with one count of aggravated assault. Another 17-year-old and a 14-year-old were arrested and charged with aiding and abetting aggravated assault, according to the sheriff’s office. The fourth juvenile, a 14-year-old, was issued a summons and complaint to appear in court for aiding and abetting aggravated assault.
A municipal court judge found probable cause Tuesday for the arrest warrants and court order of the teenagers, who all attend Clark Fork Junior/Senior High School. The three juveniles in custody will have their first court appearance this morning, Capt. Tim Hemphill wrote in a statement.
Due to the age of the juveniles involved, no names, photographs or videos will be released.
The charges follow what officials say was a full confession from the juveniles who allegedly threw rocks at a Lakeside High School bus following the Knights’ football game with Clark Fork earlier this month. One of those rocks broke through a driver's side window roughly 6 inches from a student, glanced off a supply bag and broke through a passenger side window opposite.
The bus, which had 17 people on board — 15 students, a coach and the bus driver — was westbound on Highway 200 near Lightning Creek Road after the game on Sept. 11 when it was struck, Hemphill said at the time.
Lakeside football coach Chris Dohrman said the team bus had just pulled onto Highway 200 following the Knights’ 42-28 victory over Clark Fork, and was perhaps 50 to 100 yards from reaching the Clark Fork River bridge on the way out of town, when the incident happened shortly before 10 p.m.
Dohrman was in the front seat of the bus, followed by a couple of rows of seats filled with football equipment. A player who was nearly struck was in roughly the fourth seat back on the right (door) side of the bus, with the rest of his teammates were in seats behind him.
Residents and officials from both school districts condemned the incident with Lake Pend Oreille School District Superintendent Tom Albertson calling it a "very serious and inexcusable event." Clark Fork High School officials also condemned the incident in a Facebook post to the Lakeside football team, staff, student body, parents and community.
"We want to express our heartfelt sorrow regarding the events that occurred as your team was leaving Clark Fork on Friday evening," school officials wrote in the post. "First and foremost, we are thankful that no one was seriously injured. Injuries or not, such a thing should never happen.
Like the Lakeside community, Clark Fork residents, students and staff are appalled by what happened.
"This is not what we stand for," Clark Fork officials said at the time. "We stand with you to hold whoever did this terrible act responsible. This is not who we are as a school or a community. As we always have, our school stands with you. Our community stands with you. Clark Fork stands with you to seek the truth."