11 students arrested after PSJA gang fight at alternative school

PHARR — Police arrested 11 students after a gang riot at an alternative high school last week.

Eleven students face charges after the melee Thursday morning at Buell Central High School, 218 E. Juarez, where members of the East Siders and Po’ Boys gangs fought each other near the restrooms.

Security officers and a Pharr police officer rushed to the scuffle and tried to break up the fight.

One of the students, 17-year-old Jesus Rosas Rodriguez Jr., allegedly used a plaster cast on his broken arm to smack the security officer on the back of the head.

Another student, 17-year-old Adam Mendoza Martinez, allegedly punched a security officer in the face several times as authorities tried to break up the riot.

In all, authorities arrested 11 students — including six juveniles — in connection with the brawl.

A Pharr municipal judge charged the adults — those 17 or older — with riot participation during an arraignment Friday.

Rodriguez was also charged with aggravated assault of a security officer — a first-degree felony that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $10,000 fine. He remained at the Hidalgo County Jail late Monday afternoon in lieu of a $200,000 bond.

Martinez was also charged with assault of a security officer, a third-degree felony that has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He remained in custody Monday afternoon in lieu of a $150,000 bond.

Also charged with riot participation were Edward Sepulveda, 18, Julio Cesar Garcia, 17, and Joe Watts Silguero, 17. Sepulveda and Watts remained at the county jail in lieu of $100,000 bonds. Garcia was released after posting a $15,000 bond. 

Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school district officials said they would consider expelling the 11 arrested students, who were placed at Buell Central “on a long-term basis because of their failure to abide by the student code of conduct.”

The juveniles, whose identities were not disclosed, may be placed at the Hidalgo County Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program, “the most severe action the law allows a school district to place on a student,” officials wrote in a statement.

Buell Central High School houses delinquent students from PSJA’s other campuses.

Students enrolled at the alternative campus are not allowed to visit the district’s other campuses or attend any school function, officials said, adding that “these students will continue to be isolated from the rest of the student body and may never be allowed to attend a regular school again.”