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Three students are facing charges ranging from assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest to disorderly conduct after allegedly igniting a food fight involving hundreds of kids at West Valley City's West Lake Junior High School.
West Valley City police Lt. Rick McLenon confirmed Friday that the three students were arrested during the Thursday afternoon cafeteria free-for-all. One officer sustained a minor ankle injury while helping take one of the resisting students into custody.
McLeon said one of the students was booked into a juvenile detention facility, but the other two were released to their families.
Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley said the students involved in starting the incident would also face school disciplinary measures.
Horsley said the incident started about 12:30 p.m. at West Lake Junior High School when two youths got into a physical altercation. For unknown reasons, it escalated into veritable maelstrom of flying salads, sandwiches, pizza and assorted drinks.
"The other kids just decided to get involved," Horsley said, noting that the end of the school year is typically when students start exhibiting "a little more wild behavior."
He said about 600 students were in the cafeteria at the time, and that a couple hundred of those students decided to throw food.
McLenon said 20 police officers eight from WVCPD and 12 from the Granite District force responded to the school and implemented a lockdown until order was restored.
McLenon denied a rumor that one of the students arrested was stunned with a Taser.
Twitter: @remims