2 in ‘15 AHS fight plead guilty to riot charge

Published 8:01 am Sunday, September 18, 2016

Two people involved in the Sept. 28, 2015, large fight at Austin High School accepted plea agreements in Mower County District Court Friday.

McCullough

McCullough

Angel Alicia McCullough, 31, and Willie J.M. Brunt, 28, both pleaded guilty to a charge of felony second-degree riot with a dangerous weapon, while misdemeanor fifth-degree domestic assault charges were dropped.

Brunt also took a plea agreement in a second case where he was arrested for drugs and trying to flea police a few weeks after being charged for the fight. On Friday, he pleaded guilty to felony fifth-degree drug possession, while he’d also been charged with obstructing the legal process, a gross misdemeanor.

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A third adult charged for the fight, Odell Dorrea McCullough, 28, was sentenced to five years supervised probation in March for one count of felony second-degree riot with a dangerous weapon.

The fight broke out around 3:15 p.m. outside the high school doors and continued in the gym lobby, according to court records.

The “large-scale fight” included dozens of people brawling in the street outside the high school and repeated acts of violence, while onlookers took video and encouraged the participants to fight, according to court documents.

Booth

Booth

An investigation found the fight may have stemmed from a prior fight between high school girls, which resulted in the adults gathering and the eventual “riot.”

The adults charged were related to or friends of one of the high school students involved, and several others showed up to fight for other students. Brunt is Angel’s boyfriend, and the McCulloughs are brother and sister, according to court records.

Witnesses at one point reported seeing a gun, but no gun was ever found.

Odell was caught on video striking people with nunchuks, while Angel was shown dragging a female student by the hair and punching her, and Brunt was seen punching several students, according to the complaint.

Angel admitted they went to the school because their acquaintance was having issues with other students, and she claimed the fight started when a group of girls started fighting her acquaintance. However, officers stated that video showed Angel confronting a student.

Angel reportedly admitted she pulled a girl’s hair, but only after she was hit.

After being released on bond, Oct. 1, 2015, and officers executed a search warrant the next day at his hime on the 500 block of Second Street Northwest, where they found 2.51 grams of heroin in eight small bag, 24.30 grams of marijuana in the bathroom, several small plastic bags and a digital scale in the bedroom.

When officers tried to detain Brunt, he allegedly attempted to run. He was taken to the floor by officers but continued to resist arrest and was eventually handcuffed and taken to the Mower County Jail.

Sentencing of Angel and Brunt is scheduled for Jan. 19, 2017.