Grovetown High sisters charged after officer is hurt in lunchtime scuffle

Laniyah Benson, left, and Sara Benson, right.

Date: January 17, 2025

Two sisters who attend Grovetown High School face a felony charge after a school resource officer was injured Thursday while breaking up a lunchtime fight, authorities said.

Laniyah Benson, 19, and her sister, Sara Amari Benson, 16, were both charged with felony obstruction of law enforcement as well as misdemeanor simple battery.

The arrests come after three students were involved in an altercation during lunch with other students present, according to Principal Andrew Young.

“While the altercation was being de-escalated, the School Resource Officer was struck in the face and sustained a minor injury,” the principal said in a letter to parents.

The Benson sisters were criminally charged, with the younger one being treated as a juvenile. The older one was booked into the Columbia County Detention Center and held under a $6,200 bond on the two charges.

“Inappropriate physical contact of any nature is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Young said told parents. “Please speak with your students about the seriousness of fighting and the consequences that will follow.”

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The Author

Greg Rickabaugh is an award-winning crime reporter in the Augusta-Aiken area with experience writing for The Augusta Chronicle and serving as publisher of The Jail Report. He also owns AugustaCrime.com. Rickabaugh is a 1994 graduate of the University of South Carolina and has appeared on several crime documentaries on the Investigation Discovery channel. He is married with two daughters.

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