FOLSOM, Calif. (AP) -- The mother of a 13-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly driving her son to a fight with another boy, then cheering him on as he struck his smaller opponent. Police say the mother shouted down another woman who tried to break up the fight across from Sutter Middle School on Monday. A student caught the scene on video.
Renee Ann Honnold, 37, of Folsom, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of two felonies, endangering the life or health of a child and criminal conspiracy, as well as contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. Her son was cited for suspicion of misdemeanor battery.
"In my eight years I have never seen anything like this," Folsom Police Officer Kurt Knudsen said. "You can hear her on the tape shouting, 'Hit him! Hit him!' The kid is throwing serious punches."
Gayle Williams, who was parked nearby waiting to pick up her son, said she tried to intervene as Honnold's son pinned the other boy down and hit him.
"I thought she (Honnold) was coming to help me, but then she told me to mind my own business. She was out of control," Williams said. "Her rage put me in a defensive mode."
Knudsen said the fight was brief and neither boy was seriously injured. Both boys were suspended for five days.
Kim Williams, the mother of the boy who was beaten and who is no relation to the witness, said it was not fair to suspend her son.
"I don't think my son had a choice (to take part in the fight). Even if he kept walking, this mother would have kept after him," she said.
Renee Ann Honnold, 37, of Folsom, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of two felonies, endangering the life or health of a child and criminal conspiracy, as well as contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. Her son was cited for suspicion of misdemeanor battery.
"In my eight years I have never seen anything like this," Folsom Police Officer Kurt Knudsen said. "You can hear her on the tape shouting, 'Hit him! Hit him!' The kid is throwing serious punches."
Gayle Williams, who was parked nearby waiting to pick up her son, said she tried to intervene as Honnold's son pinned the other boy down and hit him.
"I thought she (Honnold) was coming to help me, but then she told me to mind my own business. She was out of control," Williams said. "Her rage put me in a defensive mode."
Knudsen said the fight was brief and neither boy was seriously injured. Both boys were suspended for five days.
Kim Williams, the mother of the boy who was beaten and who is no relation to the witness, said it was not fair to suspend her son.
"I don't think my son had a choice (to take part in the fight). Even if he kept walking, this mother would have kept after him," she said.
