Fight leads to five arrests at Jacobs

Five male students were arrested Thursday morning after what appears to have been a gang-related fight at Jacobs High School, school officials and police said.

The fight broke out around 7:30 a.m. in the commons area of the Algonquin school, police said.

No students were injured, but a teacher and two assistant principals suffered minor injuries while breaking up the fight, Jacobs Principal Michael Bregy said.

"It pretty much got under control within minutes," Algonquin Deputy Police Chief Steve Kuzynowski said.

The incident comes less than five months after four students were arrested in connection with another gang-related fight at Jacobs.

The principal said the school will be on a heightened state of alert in coming days - as it was in the days leading up to the fight Thursday morning.

"We anticipated some increased gang presence in the building," Bregy said. "We anticipated that there could be a fight."

This week, the school stationed more adults - including teachers, administrators and the school's police liaison - in the school's commons area in the morning.

But the principal said school officials didn't know whether the fight would take place inside school walls.

"You never know when, and you never know where," Bregy said.

Jamontae Burl, 17, of 1366 Grandview Court, Algonquin and Jonathan Rodriguez, 17, of 151 Village Creek Dr., Lake in the Hills were charged with aggravated battery and mob action.

Both were taken to McHenry County Jail, where they were to be held overnight before appearing in bond court Friday morning, according to the jail.

Three other students, whose names were not released because they are juveniles, face similar charges.

Bregy acknowledged Jacobs has gang issues but said the school is acting to raise awareness among staff and students.

"We still have a problem here," Bregy said. "We're working toward a resolution."

The principal said students have served as the high school's first line of defense against gang-related violence.

"I think the student body has come to us willingly," Bregy said. "We have a plethora of kids who come to us if trouble is brewing."

Community Unit District 300 as a whole has taken steps to enhance safety in its buildings, hiring a school safety coordinator, expanding random searches and implementing an emergency notification system.

Bregy sought to reassure parents the gang problem at Jacobs is confined to a small number of students.

"This is a very safe place to come to school," he said.