VERGENNES — A 21-year-old Northlands Job Corps student on Monday pleaded innocent to simple assault in Addison Superior Court, criminal division, after having been arrested on Friday, Oct. 24, for allegedly fighting a fellow student at the school’s Vergennes campus.
The victim claimed he had been reading in class when Cameron J. Hopper, 21, of Lowell, Mass., began to antagonize him and started “lightly punching his side until he got his attention,” according to an affidavit filed by Vergennes Police Officer Mark Barber. The victim allegedly moved to another location in the classroom to avoid confrontation, according to court records.
“After class, Hopper started to get in (the victim’s) face and flicked (the victim’s) hair, which continued as they left the building,” Barber wrote in his affidavit.
After this continued, the victim allegedly pushed Hopper to the ground, whereupon Hopper allegedly jumped up and punched the victim in the lip and left eye, according to court records.
Hopper told police the alleged victim started things by grabbing (Hopper’s) wrists and twisting his arm in class, according to court records. Hopper alleged the dispute moved outside, where Hopper claimed the victim allegedly took the first swing, according to Barber’s affidavit.
A Northlands teacher, however, told police that Hopper had been “antagonizing everyone in class for an hour, and Hopper wouldn’t keep his hands to himself,” according to court records.
Police said Hopper was lodged at the Chittenden County Correctional Center in lieu of $5,000 bail.
If convicted on the misdemeanor charge, Hopper faces up to a year in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000, according to state statutes.