The father of three Lancaster High School students charged in a fight this week faces charges of his own after he allegedly assaulted an assistant principal at the school.
Rodney Thompson, 44, of Lancaster was arrested and charged with assault and battery after an altercation with an assistant principal during the school's open house Monday night, said Bryan Vaughn, director of safety and transportation for Lancaster County schools.
The assault followed the arrest of Thompson's three sons after a fight at school Monday, according to Lancaster Police Department reports. The assistant principal told police Thompson attacked him after asking to talk to him about his sons' fight.
Two students, Thompson's 14-year-old son and another student, 17, got into a fight at school just before 2 p.m. Monday, according to the report. The fight was broken up and the teens had separated when two others jumped in, attacking the 17-year-old and forcing him to the ground, the report states.
Those two teens, Standford Thompson, 17, and Chase Thompson, 18, are brothers of the 14-year-old, Vaughn said. Two school administrators managed to stop that fight, but both were injured, the report states.
The three Thompson brothers face charges. The older two were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. The youngest was petitioned to the state Department of Juvenile Justice, the report states. The students were then suspended from school while the district carries out its disciplinary plan, Vaughn said.
Monday night at the open house, the parents of the teens charged in the assault confronted William Farrar, an assistant principal who broke up the fight, while he was walking back to his office, Vaughn said. The teens were in the hallway at the time.
"The parents asked to speak to Mr. Farrar. He said, 'Yes, come into my office,'" Vaughn said. "He went to grab his key to open his office and when he starts to open his door, the father of three boys jumped on him, assaulting him, striking him in the face several times, knocking him to the ground."
The assault lasted several minutes before the family fled, Vaughn said. Farrar didn't strike back. Police arrested Thompson the same night. Farrar had a cut requiring stitches and was bruised around the eyes, nose, neck and shoulder.
Rodney Thompson told The Herald on Wednesday he went back to the school to confront Farrar after his sons claim the assistant principal assaulted one of them and used profanity in the course of breaking up the fight during school.
"That's why I went to the school house and got in a fight," Thompson said. "No, I don't feel bad. He assaulted my son. Any other parent would do the same thing.
"Yes, I did take the law into my own hands. I acted out of anger without thinking. Hopefully, that will make him think before he puts hands on someone again."
The police report said Farrar had to pull Stanford Thompson off the victim during the course of breaking up the fight. It also states Farrar was jumped on from behind during the fight.
Farrar is back at school, and the school district says it has no information to validate the allegation that Farrar assaulted Thompson's son, Vaughn said.
"Both incidents are captured on surveillance video," he said. "It has been reviewed, and we have no information to support that."
Rodney Thompson said he asked to review those tapes, but hadn't as of Wednesday afternoon. He has been banned from the school, Vaughn said.
Thompson said his sons have been expelled from school.
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