THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 7, 1994 TAG: 9410060216
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Lee Tolliver
LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
There will be increased security at Princess Anne football games following a fight last Friday night that prompted police to use pepper gas in front of the main grandstand, Princess Anne principal Pat Griffin said.
The fight broke out near halftime of the Princess Anne-Bayside game at Princess Anne. The fight, according to school officials, was between Princess Anne students only and no ``gang'' related activity occurred.
School officials said it was their understanding that five students were charged with disorderly conduct and added that the students are being dealt with in school.
There were three police officers working the game. Normally, there are eight officers on duty.
``I would like to appoligize for the behavior of our students,'' Griffin said. ``The students picked a bad place to settle their differences. We feel the police needed to use the pepper gas because of the size of the crowd that had formed and we're sorry that it affected innocent people in the stands.
``We'd hope that once this cools off, people will give us another chance. The school has been here 40-some years and I don't know of any other such problems. It's unfortunate.''
Griffin added that eight police officers - if not more - will be on duty for the remaining home games. by CNB