A substitute teacher in Montville, Connecticut was running a “fight club” in his math class starting in September. According to police, Ryan Avery Fish actually encouraged students to fight one another in the classroom to "get their energy out." They’ve been investigating the “fight club” since December. Officials say the fights happened under Fish’s supervision and involved four boys ages 14 to 16.
“The truth is I’m an idiot and wanted to befriend them,” Fish allegedly told investigators. “I’m immature.” The fights typically included students open-handed smacking one another repeatedly, but some were taken too far. Faculty apparently discovered the "club" in October - Fish was fired soon after.
The extent of the students’ injuries are unknown, but one student reportedly began vomiting during one of the fights while another has been taken to the hospital for a mental evaluation after showing symptoms of being traumatized. Fish has since been charged with four counts of second-degree reckless endangerment, two counts of risk of injury to a minor and one count of breach of peace.
- Fish's bail was set at $75,000, but after his arraignment he was released on a written promise to appear at his court date on May 8th.
- If you noticed, the school knew in October, but police didn't get wind until December. Why the lag? No one's saying. Superintendent Brian Levesque could not be reached for comment on why the school did not immediately report the incidents to police after finding out.
- And get this... In the videos, Fish can be seen moving objects out of the way so the fights could continue and even after one student vomited, he egged on the fight by calling for “round two.”
Source: Hartford Courant