Police arrested the suspect at the High School of Commerce last month where he was attending summer classes.
Tayvon StricklandSPRINGFIELD – A 17-year-old city man, suspected of hitting a 15-year-old youth over the head with a skateboard last month at the Eastfield Mall, was arrested about a week later at the High School of Commerce where he was attending summer classes.
The incident, which occurred on the night of July 6, sent the youth to Mercy Medical Center in Springfield where he required ten stitches to close the gash on top of his head.
Tayvon Strickland, 17, of 91 Beacon Circle, arrested on July 12, denied charges of armed robbery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon during his arraignment in District Court the following day, according to court documents.
The victim’s father, Robert Perez, told The Republican the attack occurred shortly after he dropped his son and a friend off at the Boston Road mall at about 7:45 p.m.
The pair went to the food court where they were approached by the four suspects. There was some kind of confrontation and one of the suspects slapped his son in the face, said Perez, a city native and resident of Sixteen Acres.
The two, seeking to avoid additional confrontation, then walked through the Sears store at the mall and out a side door and through the parking lot towards the Sears Auto Center. They did not, Perez said, attempt to contact police or public safety personnel at the mall.
The suspects, however, followed. An altercation ensued and one of the suspects grabbed a skateboard and hit his son over the head with it, Perez said, adding that his son’s cell phone was stolen during the assault.
Sgt. John M. Delaney said that detectives working the case, which involved four suspects, determined that at least one of them was a Commerce student.
Officer John Tosado, a resource officer at Commerce, identified the suspect after reviewing surveillance tapes. “They got really good video,” Delaney said of the assault.
A warrant for Strickland was sought and Tosado arrested him at the high school after learning that he was attending summer classes there, Delaney, aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said.
Strickland was ordered held in lieu of $25,000 personal surety. A bindover hearing, to determine whether Strickland will be tried in District Court or Superior Court, was set for Aug. 27.
Perez said Thursday he was relieved to learn of the arrest and hopes that the others suspected of participating in the assault will be arrested as well. Delaney said detectives continue to probe the case.
Perez said his son, a former Cathedral High School student poised to enter his sophomore year at Wilbraham and Monson Academy in Wilbraham, is doing fine physically.
The attack, however, has served as a kind of wake-up call for the teen and altered his perception of the world. “Now that he has been a victim, he is more careful about what he does....He hasn’t been to the mall since,” Perez said.
Both police and Eastfield Mall personnel stressed in wake of the assault that such incidents are extremely rare there.