Teen Girls Charged After Fight Video Is Posted on Facebook

Three teenagers in southwestern Pennsylvania have been arrested on charges that they assaulted three other teens, which was discovered after another teen posted a video of the incident on Facebook.

"This is the first case like this my department has handled," Chief Randy Cox, of the Somerset Borough Police Department, told AOL News. "It is amazing the things you can find on YouTube and Facebook and the level of stupidity that is involved in what people post."

Police received reports of a fight shortly after 6 p.m. March 2 in Somerset, a rural town 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The fight had ended by the time police arrived, but they were able to piece together what happened later that night when a video of a fight was posted to the social networking website Facebook.

Police have not released the juveniles' identities.

The victim, a 14-year-old female, and her 12-year-old sister were walking along South Center Avenue in Somerset when they were confronted by several other kids. Reportedly, the 14-year-old had a run-in earlier that day with one of the girls and had confronted her about some derogatory statements she had heard, police said.

A 15-year-old female apparently took offense to the earlier accusations and pushed the victim into the street where she was "nearly struck by a vehicle," police said.

The 15-year-old then began pulling the victim's hair, causing her to fall to the sidewalk, where she struck her head and twisted her knee, according to reports. Another girl, a 13-year-old female, kicked the victim while she was on the ground.

When the victim's little sister attempted to help her up, the 15-year-old grabbed the victim by the neck and pushed her back down, saying, "She is dirty and she belongs there." Another 15-year-old girl knocked the 12-year-old's glasses off, punched her with a "closed fist" and pushed her into the street where she, like her sister, was "nearly struck by a car," police said.

Two nurses from a nearby hospital finally came out and broke up the fight, police said.

The 14-year-old victim was admitted to Somerset Hospital, where she was treated for a concussion, as well as injuries to her neck, right knee and right wrist.

According to Cox, two of the alleged aggressors initially tried to blame the victims in the case, but the "[video] told the complete opposite story," he said. The primary victim, the 14-year-old girl, did not raise her hand once to any of her alleged attackers.

"I have been asked that a number of times by reporters -- what was her motivation in refraining from retaliating -- and my guess is a whole lot of restraint, a bit of a shock that it was happening and probably a bit of fear because of the circumstances," he said.

Cox added: "Under Pennsylvania law, she would have been entitled to defend herself."

Speaking with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the mother of the 14- and 12-year-old victims said she had taught her girls to walk away from confrontational situations.

"My first question was, 'What was your part?' My kids aren't perfect. In this situation, they didn't do anything," she said.

Authorities charged the juveniles with aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment, disorderly conduct and recklessly endangering another person. Cox said his department is also considering filing additional charges against two of the suspects for filing false reports to law enforcement.

Another 14-year-old girl filmed the fight and posted the video of it to Facebook, police said. That teen, however, is not facing any charges in connection with the case.

"In Pennsylvania there is no law that would require anyone to come to the aid of another citizen or even to the aid of a law enforcement officer," Cox said.