The Boys Are Back In Town

If you thought new Newport had completely replaced old Newport, think again.

It was a rough-and-tumble weekend among teens in Newport, where police say three boys were assaulted with everything from a slingshot and a steak knife to brass knuckles and a baseball bat.

Newport police arrested two boys -- one 12, the other 13 -- on felony assault charges after allegedly attacking two 13-year-old boys in separate incidents Friday and Saturday. No arrests were made in connection with a third assault on an 18-year-old Cincinnati teen Friday afternoon.

In that incident, Walter J. Harris, told Newport police that someone began shooting rocks from a slingshot at him and his friends as they walked along Ann Street about 1 p.m. When Harris told the stranger to stop firing rocks, he told police that three men emerged from a house on the west side of the street and attacked him. Harris told investigators that one of the assailants beat him in the head with brass knuckles.

Harris was treated at St. Luke Hospital East in Fort Thomas for cuts and bruises. He told police his assailants were white men with medium builds and facial hair. He said one wore a New York Yankees ball cap and all three came from a home about four or five houses down from the Ninth Street intersection.

A few hours later police say another fight broke out on Liberty Street between 12- and 13-year-old brothers at odds over who would get to go online next. Newport police said the case of sibling rivalry turned violent when the younger boy tried to cut in line at the computer by cutting his big brother with a steak knife.

The 12-year-old boy then allegedly ran outside and tossed the knife into the sewer before police arrived. The victim was not badly hurt, but suffered a cut to his left side. His younger brother, who was not identified because of his age, is charged with second-degree assault.

The final teen-aged tussle of the weekend occurred Saturday just after 8 p.m., when Newport police say a 13-year-old Thornton Street boy was beaten with a baseball bat by another 13-year-old boy outside his home.

The victim's father, Christopher Iles, told Newport police he and his teen-age son went to their front door Saturday night after a large group of kids gathered on their porch and began kicking the door. Iles told police that his son moved toward a boy in the crowd he expected to fight when he was struck in the head with a broken baseball bat. The victim was treated at St. Luke Hospital East in Fort Thomas for a head wound. His accused assailant -- a seventh-grader at Newport Middle School -- is charged with second-degree assault.