COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- A confrontation between a Northwest Passage School student and a school resource officer on Tuesday ballooned into a "mass arrest" involving 19 Colerain police officers, seven arrests and one eye-catching Facebook video of an officer appearing to shove and hit a woman who recorded part of it on her phone.
The incident report from Colerain police is just a sentence long: "On May 8, 2018, officers responded to Northwest Passage School for an officer needs assistance call from a Hamilton County Deputy who was on duty in the school."
According to a Facebook post from Northwest Local School District and a news release from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, the originating incident was a Northwest student becoming disruptive in class. The news release stated the student became increasingly violent toward school resource officer Deputy Mark Gaffney and was ultimately shocked with a stun gun and arrested.
So how did 25 other people get involved?
The Sheriff's Office mentions that Gaffney called Colerain police for assistance but does not include any information about the chaotic scene depicted in a Facebook video posted Tuesday afternoon by user Ok Then Dress.
The video shows officers arresting three struggling, shouting people -- one female, two male -- outside Spring Hill Shopping Center, which is across the street from Northwest Passage.
The woman recording the scene appears to be standing no more than a few feet away from the arresting officers when one orders her to back away.
"I can videotape," she replies.
He steps forward with one hand extended, shouting "You can, but back the **** up!" as the image onscreen jolts violently. The picture of the last six seconds is hard to decipher -- it contains less-than-a-second snatches of cars, the sky and the officer's face -- but the woman's screaming isn't.
"What do you mean?" she shouts, followed immediately by: "Stop hitting me!"
The officer continues to shout profanity and orders at her as the video ends.
The Facebook user who posted the video claimed it was recorded by her friend, whom she said "got locked up for recording" and "clearly wasn't" resisting arrest.
Hamilton County court records show at least three arrests related to the incident. Loraine Warren, 36, Breasina Thomas, 19, and Dalijah Robinson, 18, all face charges of resisting arrest and obstructing official business. Warren and Robinson face an addition charge of disorderly conduct.
According to the incident report from Colerain Police, the other four people arrested were juveniles. Documents did not clarify the identity of the woman recording.
Warren, Thomas and Robinson didn't yet have attorneys during their initial appearance Wednesday morning at the Hamilton County Courthouse. A judge set bond at $2,500 on the obstruction charge and $5,000 on the resisting arrest charge, as well as $1,000 on the disorderly conduct charge for Warren and Robinson. They're all due to return to court Thursday.
Colerain Chief Mark Denney confirmed his department was conducting an internal investigation into the use of force during the arrests.
Social media posts indicate there may be more than one video of the incident, he added. The department asked anyone who saw the incident or has video of it to call 513-321-COPS.
"While the demand for answers is understandable and necessary, the need for correct and verified information is equally important," Denney said.
