Pioneer principal chases assailant
Pioneer High School Principal Michael White and an assistant principal chased a student through several nearby yards Monday afternoon after the 16-year-old punched another student in the face and fled, police reports said.
They caught the teen, but he later escaped through a window in White's office, reports said. An officer on patrol was dispatched to the school at 601 W. Stadium Blvd. in Ann Arbor just after 2 p.m. and learned a 17-year-old student was being treated for a swollen eye at the nurse's office and that a 16-year-old boy who punched him had escaped from a window in the principal's office, reports said.
The male victim said he was walking to class and had to push through a crowd of people in the hallway that was being blocked by the assailant and another boy who were horsing around.
The victim continued walking to class and heard the suspect running behind him shouting and asking why he was pushed. The assailant followed him to his desk in the classroom and began arguing and threatening the boy until a teacher separated them.
As the suspect appeared to walk away, he turned and punched the other student in the face before fleeing.
The teacher called White, who came to the room and determined that the assailant had left the building.
He told police that he and Assistant Principal Kevin Hudson chased the teen through several yards before catching up to him at a church.
They escorted him back to the principal's office, where he escaped a few minutes later without his coat while waiting for police.
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I actually saw the beginning of this altercation. As I was walking to class in E-Hall, I saw a few students arguing with a Pioneer senior. As I got to my class, the victim began walking away, and I assumed it died down there. Apparently, though, one of the kids followed him to his class.Now, I know all of this happened during passing time. Passing time before sixth hour, which is when this happened, runs from 1:25 until 1:33. Why did police take until two to get to the school? The church that the attacker fled to is directly across the street from Pioneer. Mr. White runs ten miles every morning, according to rumor. So, at the latest, he caught the student at 1:43. The church is no more than two hundred yards from the administrative wing, where Mr. White's office is located.
The police would've been called by this point, as the student was known to be an "at-risk youth". Why did the police take fifteen or more minutes to get to Pioneer, a 1.55-mile, 5 minute trip (according to MapQuest)? Mr. White was holding the student in his office. Obviously, the student escaped, which makes no difference anyway; the principal knows who he is.
But haven't all these new rules been put into place for our safety? What if we have an actual problem? Do the police know how long it takes to get here? How much safer are we, actually?
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On a lighter note, a teacher told me this amusing anecdote, passed on from Mr. White.
Apparently, as Mr. Hudson and Mr. White pursued the student, Mr. Hudson started to slow down. "These are $200 shoes," he told Mr. White. "I know who that kid is, we don't need to catch him." Mr. White considered stopping as well, but he thought to himself, "I know this kid doesn't jog ten miles every morning. I do."
Spoken like a true BAMF.
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Also, I was sorry to hear that this young man had lost his coat. Better check the lost and found!
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