By Nicole Bode and Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Staff
DOWNTOWN — Police arrested 10 students at the Richard R. Green High School in Lower Manhattan Monday after a brawl spun out of control, police and education officials said.
The fight broke out in the lobby of the school at 26 Broadway at 11 a.m. Monday, then spread upstairs to the cafeteria, a DOE spokeswoman said.
An NYPD spokesman confirmed that police were called to the school after receiving reports of a "dispute" and that some students were taken in for questioning at the 1st Precinct. He said the school safety officers at the school had the situation under control by the time the NYPD arrived.
Sources at the 1st Precinct said 10 students were arrested. Two students were released after 2 p.m. Monday with a desk appearance ticket for disorderly conduct.
One of the students, a 16-year-old whose name is being withheld by DNAinfo, said he did not know what the fight was about, but jumped in when he saw his friend being hurt.
"We were defending our friend," the teen, who was picked up by his sister, said Monday. "all I could see was someone hitting out friend."
The teen said two other students involved in the fight pulled out pocket knives, adding, "They were trying to intimidate us."
His 17-year-old friend said the fight was the result of beefs between two groups of friends and denied there was any gang connection.
The students said they expected to return to school Tuesday to be placed on a 30-day suspension. An Education Department spokeswoman said administrative action was pending against the students involved in the incident.
One of the parents of the teens arrested said the school should increase security.
"They need to put metal detectors in that school," said Evelyn Martinez, who lives in Harlem with her son.
A witness said the fight broke out over a misplaced or stolen cell phone. He said as many as a dozen students were involved.
"It started in the cafeteria, then it went down the stairs, outside and then back inside," said a 10th-grade student, who declined to give his name.
He said he was surprised the fight had happened at the school, adding that the staff "are very strict."
The Richard R. Green High School, which used to be based on the Upper East Side, moved into its curren location this fall.
The school had outgrown its former digs, and officials and students were elated earlier this year to move into the 103,000-square-foot new facility, located in the former Sports Museum of America space. The school has struggled in the past to get all its students to graduate.
