A parent in the community talks with the public safety committee about high school kids attacking her son and other children in the city. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

An alleged assault by a group of high school students has a city mother asking for the city’s help policing the Falconer Street area.

Melissa Darling, a resident of Falconer Street, brought her concerns to Monday’s City Council Public Safety Committee meeting, as she said it was an important matter of public safety for city residents. Darling said her son was assaulted by a group of five or six high school age boys in a coordinated attack that could have left her son seriously injured or killed.

“No parent should ever have to get that phone call or live with that fear,” Darling said. “Law enforcement has been involved but since that incident these individuals are still out in the community, reportedly driving around and continuing to target and harm others.”

She added that many victims of these high school kids are not coming forward because they are scared or feel nothing will be done. Darling said this means the problem is bigger than what has been reported, and it is about more than just her son. Rather, she said it is a pattern of violent behavior happening in the community.

“I’m asking the council to take this seriously and help push for immediate action,” Darling said. “We need increased police presence and patrols in affected areas. We need stronger coordination between law enforcement and community leaders. We need safe and anonymous ways for victims to report these incidents without fear of retaliation, and when appropriate under the law there must be accountability for parents and the individuals responsible.”

Darling said children should feel safe in their own neighborhoods and parents should not have to worry about their children being the next victims. The attack on Darling’s son was on April 13, and a police report was filed, though Police Chief Scott Forster said this was the first time he had heard of it. Darling has been to the police station and sent in video evidence. Her son was transported to the hospital, and she added that the incident happened on Falconer Street and that the boys allegedly chased her son, who is 13 years old, from Lillian Dickson Park back to their house.

“I got a notification on my camera and I looked on my phone and there’s 30 kids in my yard and adults,” Darling said. “Nobody stepped in. When I pulled up my son was unconscious on the ground and I thought he was dead. I know all of the individuals and I have not heard anything back.”

Darling said she has contacted the juvenile police, lawyers, and other organizations in the city and gotten no response. The youths are still out doing the same thing, she added, saying that the next day she was out on the porch with her son, who was OK, and kids walking up the street told them that the kids had jumped out of the same car and chased him as well, though he was able to get away. Later that day, Darling said, those same boys allegedly jumped her son’s little brother behind the 7/11 on North Main Street.

She said she knows the kids and has given the names she knows of to the police, and wants to know if the parents are going to be held responsible as well. The kids are older than her son, with the oldest allegedly being 17 and 15 years olds and 14 year olds involved as well.

“We live literally across the street (from the park), and I don’t feel safe anymore,” Darling said. “I won’t let him go over there unless I’m there. I feel that I have no sense of security at all, even in my home because I wasn’t there. Nobody was there and they came over onto my property to get him. Who’s to say they won’t come into my home? These kids are out of control.”

Councilman Tony Dolce, R-Ward 2 and chair of the Public Safety Committee, asked if these attacks were random or if they were being targeted, which Darling said they were. Specifically, she said it was not just her son that there was an issue with, and that the kids are driving around looking for people to target. If they find one or two people walking they will all jump out of the car and attack, she said.

“I know three other families at least that are dealing with the same issue with the same group of boys,” Darling said. “Nobody wants to make a report because the parents aren’t good either.”

Forster said while he was not aware of the report he would look into it and follow up to see where it was at. He made note that it was the same car every time, which Darling said she has provided a description of, and it is always the same driver as well, with two 17 year old females involved as well, including one as the driver.

“I feel like they’re just attacking anybody,” Darling said. “I don’t feel safe.”

Forster promised he would look into it the day after the meeting and get back to her.