Troopers investigating brawl at Matanuska Lake

WASILLA — Alaska State Troopers are investigating a Friday fistfight between a group of teenagers and some adults at a popular local swimming area.

A 30-second video of the fight posted to Facebook on Friday evening captures only one portion of a scuffle that lasted at least 10 minutes, according to one witness. In the video, several adults and other teenagers can be seen standing around watching as a man and woman repeatedly punch a male and attempt to push him off of the wooden fishing platform near the lake.

The investigation is presently ongoing, said troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters. Troopers haven’t made any arrests in the case, she said.

According to witnesses, several Wasilla High students went for a celebratory dip after a preseason scrimmage between the Warriors and the Bartlett Golden Bears. They were swimming for about an hour when another group of adults arrived, just as they were preparing to leave the area about 9:30 p.m. A woman in the second group told one of the teens, a 14-year-old girl, to get out of the water. When she did, the woman yelled at her and then punched her in the face, blackening her eye and splitting her lip open, according to one witness, 17-year-old Emilie Sottosanti. The woman accused some members of the group of antagonizing her two-year-old son by making faces at him, Sottosanti said.

“Her two-year-old son was crying, someone was antagonizing him, provoking him, and making him cry,” she said. “I have no idea who she was talking about.”

The attack was unprovoked, Sottosanti added.

Paul Sibley Jr., 18, a friend of the 14-year-old girl’s family, tried to intervene to interrupt the fight, and when he did, two of the adults allegedly began hitting him and trying to shove him over the wooden railing at a well-trafficked fishing dock on the shoreline. A third adult — the woman who apparently initiated the incident — can be seen on the video trying to pull a woman off of Sibley, to no effect.

After repeatedly smashing Sibley’s head against the railing, opening a large gash in his head, and breaking his phone, another group of adults came down a nearby hill to the shoreline and broke up the fight, Sottosanti said. She said the adults involved in the fight then drove off.

Sibley’s father, Paul Sibley Sr. said he’s proud of how his son conducted himself.

“I watched the video and I saw a lot of adult males standing there watching,” he said. “I’m glad my son was the only one who stood up for her.”

Emilie Sottosanti called for law enforcement.

“I ran up the hill and called 911,” Sottosanti said. “It didn’t dawn on me to check their plates to see what car they left in. It was just so in the moment, I didn’t think of it.”

Sottosanti said she had already retreated up the hill to call 911 by the time the fight ended. A friend managed to catch a few seconds of the encounter on her cell phone.

Sottosanti’s mother, Awbrey Sottosanti, whose two daughters were present at the scene, posted the video on Facebook in the hopes that some of the people could be identified to law enforcement officials. Numerous adults and teens in the video can be seen standing around making no attempt to intervene.

“These are adults beating up on kids,” she said. “They were all scared. They did not know what to do. They were just watching their friend get the crap beat out of him. If they had stepped in, it would have just been so much worse. Thank God they didn’t.”

“All these kids are like ‘Oh, I wish I woulda done something,’” Awbrey added. “I keep telling them how proud I am that they didn’t. It kind of brings tears to my eyes, because it could have gotten really, really bad.”

For Awbrey, the incident raises questions about safety at a place her family frequently visits for recreation.

“It’s one of those things, where do you go in the Valley anymore?” she said. “Where do you feel safe? Where you can take your family and not have something like this happen?”

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, email brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com or follow him on Twitter @reporterbriano.