Student's ringtone allegedly sparks assault at Chartiers Valley High School

COLLIER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Chartiers Valley High School student was assaulted last week during lunch, and he claims a ringtone started the confrontation that played out in front of fellow students and a teacher.

The assault was caught on cellphone video, which was shared thousands of times after 16-year-old Bryan Berti’s mother posted it on Facebook.

Berti said he didn’t fight back because the person who attacked him was a 15-year-old girl.

“I was changing my ringtone and then she got really annoyed about it and then she said, ‘If you play that again, I'm going to slap you,’” he said. “I just sat there and ate, like what people say they ate the punches, I guess. But I just took it because, I mean, I’m not going to hit a girl.”

The video, which was recorded by another student, shows Bryan Berti being slapped and then beaten by the girl.

“Eighteen times she hit him. So, and 17 of them with a closed fist,” Jess Berti, Bryan Berti’s mother, said. “I watched the video in its entirety one time. It made me sick.”

The Bertis are using the incident to start a conversation about bullying.

“Something needs to happen because there's just too many kids that have been hurt and suffer and it’s not, you know, it’s not being addressed,” Jess Berti said.

A school district spokesperson released the following statement addressing actions taken after the assault:

"There was an incident at the high school. The situation was handled according to our school Code of Contact, which does not tolerate this type of behavior. The Collier Township police were notified and are handling the situation. In addition, the police have been in touch with the victim and his family. The district is continuing to investigate the situation, including what precipitated the event."

Cox Media Group