7 Arrested In Savage Attack On N.J. 8th Grader

WBCBSTV ^ | 22 Dec 09 | Christine Sloan

[SkyPilot]

ENGLEWOOD, N.J. (CBS) ― Click to enlarge1 of 1 David Muneton, an eighth grade honor student, needed reconstructive facial surgery after being savagely beaten by a gang of 11 students on Dec. 18, 2009, in Engelwood, N.J.

_{David Muneton, an eighth grade honor student, needed reconstructive facial surgery after being savagely beaten by a gang of 11 students on Dec. 18, 2009, in Engelwood, N.J.}

Police said as many as 11 students beat up the eighth-grader leaving him severely injured, and he may even lose his sight.

CBS 2 HD spoke with some of his friends about what led to the brutal attack.

The incident near a school soccer field was so violent that 13-year-old David Muneton needed reconstructive surgery to his face to correct several broken bones.

His friends at the Janis Dismus Middle School in Englewood are stunned.

"It's so hard. … I'm his best friend," Denise Melendez said before breaking down in tears.

Police have arrested seven students from both the middle school and high school, charging them with aggravated assault. The youngest one is just 12 years old.

Investigators said the teenagers jumped Muneton on Friday as he walked home from school to get back at him for an earlier incident during which the eighth-grader accidentally hit a girl with a basketball.

The superintendent said the girl, who has also been charged, led the boys to Muneton, saying "He's the one."

"We do know that after the girl made the comment one of the people, the boys, who was with him immediately punched him," Superintendent Dr. Richard Segall said.

Students at the middle school have made a get well card for the 13-year-old -- all of them outraged over what happened.

"He really didn't deserve to get beat up like that because he really didn't do anything and it wasn't intentional that he hit her with a ball," student Michael Bailey said.

"If I was there Ii would have told someone," student Emanuel Doughtery added.

"I wrote I hope he gets better soon," said student Katherine Saldarriga.

Muneton is recovering at Englewood Hospital. His brother told CBS 2 HD his condition is improving. The assistant principal said the youngster is a model student.

"He is a wonderful young man, actually one of our students who made the honor roll this quarter," Daniella Bailey said.

As these kids try to make sense of what happened all seven students arrested have been suspended. This coming as police was looking to charge four more teenagers.

Three of the students charged remain at the juvenile detention center in Paramus, while the rest have been released to their parents -- two of them required to wear ankle bracelets.

[Darren McCarty]

7 on 1. If I’m faced with that, my life is threatened and I will react accordingly - looking them straight in their cowardly eyes when I do so.

[BykrBayb]

I’m under no obligation to support your claims. Go ahead and post a list of the video games you claim they played. I made no such claim.

[editor-surveyor]

What these perps did is aggravated mayhem; its punishable by life in prison without possibility of parole. That is what each of them deserve.

[Snurple]

What these perps did is aggravated mayhem; its punishable by life in prison without possibility of parole. That is what each of them deserve.

That doesn't apply to black on white crime...you know that.

[Terpfen]

Go ahead and post a list of the video games you claim they played. I made no such claim.

I'm beginning to suspect you have some sort of disorder. You claimed that violent video games were at least in part responsible for the assault in the news story that began this thread. I requested that you back this assertion up with detail in the form of the video games that the assaulters supposedly played. You, being unable to substantiate your post, began to obfuscate the point as a form of defense, just as you've continued to do up through your most recent reply.

The burden of proof falls on you to substantiate your claim. But let's skip to the chase: you don't have a clue what you're talking about, and since you can't prove a thing beyond your ability to insert your foot in your mouth, you've got to rhetorically dance like a Clinton to avoid scrutiny. Nice try, but you failed.

Begone.

[editor-surveyor]

That article has to be a joke!

[behzinlea]

That is what each of them deserve

And what none of them will get.

They'll be back in skool in no time.

[editor-surveyor]

He’s about as hot headed and crazy as Jack!

[BykrBayb]

Liar. I made no such claim. I’ve repeatedly told you so, and repeatedly asked you to show where I made that claim. You’ve acknowledged that you can’t find any instance of me making that claim, but that the truth doesn’t matter, as it’s the seriousness of your false accusation that counts.

I’ve pinged Wagglebee because I’d like to share the laughter with him. It’s not often we see such clownish attempts here. You make outrageous claims, then demand that I provide proof of your claims. Have another drink.

[gusty]

I live in the area. You are correct sir. Englewood has the very rich on the hill who go to private school, and the rest of the town is a ghetto.

[denydenydeny]

Teach your kids not to ignore that little voice telling them a group is going to be trouble. We as humans subconsciously pick up on little cues that our adversaries give us but somehow we don’t compute it properly or ignore it because of societal programming.

The word that comes to mind is "profile."

[Terpfen]

I wish it were. It unfortunately isn’t. Whether or not the people who used to think comics were a societal ill existed in equivalent numbers to the people who now think video games are some kind of plague, I can’t say. But they did and do exist.

And by the way, exactly how am I “hot headed and crazy”?

[Terpfen]

Liar. I made no such claim.

Your post 66 is a defense of Hot Tabasco's claim in post 35 that violent video games are the culprit here.

You’ve acknowledged that you can’t find any instance of me making that claim...

I have not, but nice try.

... as it’s the seriousness of your false accusation that counts.

The only false accusations are the ones you've authored, such as this next quote:

You make outrageous claims, then demand that I provide proof of your claims.

You are the one defending the ridiculous claim that violent video games contributed to this assault. Back it up by providing the list of games that these kids supposedly learned their violent ways from, or get off it.

[My Favorite Headache]

When I was in 6th grade my father died. I missed 4.5 weeks of school. I came back and there was a lot of support..I was 11 going on 12 years old. I lived in North Jersey at the time in a very affluent town and 99.999% white.

About a month after I returned to school I was jumped by 6 kids 1 of them was the only black kid in town who got a tremendous amount of attention because he was the only black kid in town and a recognized athlete. Him and I played on the same teams and his Dad was my baseball coach for 2 years.

I was jumped at recess because I was having “words” over a ball that we were all playing with...I believe it was a basketball.

They kicked the ever living shit out of me and one kid sucker punched me in the temple. They laughed while doing it for 5 minutes.

I had been in enough neighborhood fights in my life to know how to defend myself...but sometimes there are just scumbag bullies like these piles of crap that did this to this kid that feel invinceable. They feel they can get away with anything. I could have been killed that day...just a month after my own Dad died. All over having words over a ball.

12 year olds ARE that savage over a school yard misunderstanding.

[My Favorite Headache]

Oh I forgot to add...I believe the reason I was attacked that day was because I was shown a bit more attention and understanding at the time versus other kids because of the hell I had just gone through the month before.

It was all rooted in jealousy and ignorance.

[BykrBayb]

If you’re going to extend your accusations to Hot Tabasco, you should give him/her a courtesy ping.

Hot Tabasco made post 35. I make no claim about what he/she said in that post. It stands on its own. I didn’t see any claim in that post (or any other post by HT) that video games were the culprit here.

You made post 61. It was so ridiculous, that when I stopped laughing I had to reply.

I made post 66, using sarcasm to point out the obvious fact (obvious to everyone but the most stupid idiot) that violence during a child’s formative years has an effect on their fragile little minds. Only a complete moron would deny that fact.

Now one more time (what is this, the 5th or 6th request?) where did I make your claim that video games caused this incident? I’m still waiting for you to produce evidence to back up your lie, or apologize for lying.

http://gameshowthemesongs.net/sounds/Jeopardy/Jeopardy%20-%20Ending%20Theme.mp3

[Terpfen]

Hot Tabasco made post 35. I make no claim about what he/she said in that post. It stands on its own. I didn’t see any claim in that post (or any other post by HT) that video games were the culprit here.

Hot Tabasco made post 35, and then you defended post 35 in your post 66. If you did not read post 35 before making your post 66, then it makes your post 66 even sillier.

I made post 66, using sarcasm to point out the obvious fact (obvious to everyone but the most stupid idiot) that violence during a child’s formative years has an effect on their fragile little minds. Only a complete moron would deny that fact.

At issue is not whether one is denying that excessive violence during a person's formative years is detrimental. Of course it is. We're talking about whether or not there was any violence to be exposed to in the first place. Hot Tabasco made the claim that video games were somehow involved. There is no proof of this.

There IS some moderate evidence, based on my reading of the thread-starting article, that this attack might have been racially motivated. If that's true, there is no video game titled "Beat Up Whitey," so it's highly unlikely the attackers got the idea to assault this kid based on something they picked up at the local Best Buy.

Now one more time (what is this, the 5th or 6th request?) where did I make your claim that video games caused this incident? I’m still waiting for you to produce evidence to back up your lie, or apologize for lying.

I'm still waiting for you to acknowledge that the defense of someone else's point is inherently agreeing with that point. If you didn't read post 35 before authoring your post 66, as you seem to now be implying, then you have even less ground to stand on in this ridiculous little circular argument you're spinning.

[metmom]

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[BykrBayb]

I read all of the posts prior to posting (with the exception of one that was removed by moderator before I saw it). I wasn’t replying to post 35. I wasn’t defending Hot Tabasco. I was replying to your knee-jerk reaction to post 35. You’ve evolved from knee-jerk to delusional. Every time I think I’m done laughing, you get me started again. Do you look like Jerry Lewis in real life?

[FreedomPoster]

>>Go to the link, then read the comments, if you are wondering why I pinged the CW2 list to this story.

Wow. I went to the oldest comments, and it starts immediately. People “get it”, despite the non-reporting of the racial angle to this, and they’re pretty tired of being lied to, whether by omission or commission.