Indiana
Indiana mom allegedly boards school bus and attacks 14-year-old student for bullying her son
An Indianapolis mom allegedly barged onto her son’s middle school bus with her teen daughter and beat the boy’s alleged 14-year-old bully so badly that the child suffered a broken nose.
Latea Hentz, 36, her daughter, 17, and son, 13, were caught on the bus’s security camera and in viral videos taken by students allegedly attacking an 8th-grade student in Warren Township, a suburb of Indianapolis, on March 6, Fox 59 reported, citing court records.
As the incident unfolds, the Warren Township School bus driver can be heard telling Hentz that no parents were permitted on the bus.
However, Hentz allegedly told the driver she was coming on and to call the police as the three of them made their way over to the student.
Her daughter and son “immediately started fighting” the 8th grader, Fox 59 reported.
“Beat his a–, beat his a–,” Hentz screamed as she and her children punched the student in the mob attack.
Hentz and her daughter then allegedly began yelling threats at the other children on the school bus, who were pleading for the trio to stop their attack.
At one point, the 17-year-old allegedly turned to a 10-year-old girl on the bus and asked if “she wants some too,” the IndyStar reported, citing court documents.
Hentz and her children stopped beating the 8th grader as police arrived.
However, on the way out of the bus, she allegedly made an open threat to other students and said, “I’m going to tear this up,” and “I’m tired of you b–ch ass kids.”
She claimed to police that the victim was bullying her son for several weeks and had slapped him the day before the attack.
Hentz claimed that her son’s school was aware of the bullying but had done nothing to stop it.
Police said that the 14-year-old was beaten so severally by the Hentz and her kids that when he was taken to Riley Children’s Hospital for treatment, doctors determined his nose was fractured, and his left eye was bruised and swelled.
He was later interviewed by the Warren Township police’s child abuse department, where he revealed a different account of what happened leading up to and during the March 6 attack.
The victim, who is half-Mexican, told investigators that Hentz’s son had been picking on him and had been making “racist jokes” and making “comments about ICE,” according to court records.
He then claimed that “he had been jumped by a mom and her kids.”
Hentz had initially been charged with misdemeanor battery, disorderly conduct, intimidation, and trespassing following the incident.
However, on Tuesday, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office charged the mother with four felonies: Criminal Confinement, Battery Resulting in Moderate Injury, Intimidation, and Criminal Trespass.
Hentz’s two children are also facing possible criminal charges concerning the fight as officials continue to investigate the incident, according to prosecutors.
Police have launched a search for two stolen endangered tortoises after the Indianapolis Zoo waited 11 days to report them missing.
An Egyptian tortoise and a Northern Spider tortoise, both of which are on the critically endangered species list, were taken from their enclosure in the zoo’s desert exhibit between 10 a.m. local time on October 11 and 10 a.m. on October 12, Indiana State Police say.
Captain Ron Galaviz with the Indiana State Police confirmed to Fox 59 that the tortoises were not reported missing until last Thursday.
On Monday, authorities asked for the public’s help in finding the two tortoises in a Facebook post.
Facebook users questioned how the theft could’ve happened.
“I’m curious how exactly you steal not one but TWO tortoises from a Zoo?” one user wrote.
To which another replied, “We recently went to the Indianapolis zoo and they’re not in a really closed encounter. They’re just smack in the middle with very accessible fence type thing you could reach in and pick it up.”
“How do you walk out of the zoo with 2 turtles? That must be a big rain coat,” a third user commented.
But Galaviz explained the tortoises stolen were rather small.
“The tortoises are not the large giant tortoises that you see people sitting on and riding around on,” he told Fox 59. “These are actually very small, probably fit in the palm of your hand.”
Galaviz said the tortoises can be anywhere by now.
“They could end up in a pet store. They could be in somebody’s personal aquarium somewhere that obviously we don’t know, [the] black market. I think the possibilities run the gamut,” he said.
The Independent has reached out to the zoo for comment and Indiana State Police for updates on the tortoises’ whereabouts.
According to the zoo’s website, the Egyptian tortoises are typically four inches long and weigh one pound, and are endangered due to habitat loss and pet trade. Northern Spider tortoises, which are five inches long and weigh one pound, suffer from habitat loss and poaching.
Jake Oakman, a spokesperson for the zoo, said in a statement shared by ABC News, it is “working closely with law enforcement to investigate the theft.”
“We continue to hope for their safe return and we appreciate the community’s support during this time,” Oakman said.
Indiana State Police asked anyone with information that could help them in the search for the tortoises to contact police.
The 2025 Indiana high school football playoffs began with the Class 5A through Class 1A sectionals on October 24. The Class 6A sectionals begin on October 31.
High School On SI has brackets for every classification in the Indiana high school football playoffs. The playoffs culminate with the state championships on November 28 and 29 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
2025 Indiana (IHSAA) Class 1A Football Bracket (select to view full bracket details)
October 31, 2025 at 7 p.m.
North Judson-San Pierre at LaVille
Bowman Academy at West Central
Pioneer at Frontier
Taylor at Carroll
North Miami at Southwood
Triton at Fremont
Hagerstown at Monroe Central
South Adams at Tri
South Putnam at Fountain Central
North Central at Riverton Parke
Clinton Prairie at Sheridan
Cloverdale at Tindley
Eastern Greene at Milan
Knightstown at North Decatur
Springs Valley at Providence
Tecumseh at North Daviess
2025 Indiana (IHSAA) Class 2A Football Bracket
Friday, October 31, 2025 at 7:00 PM ET
Andrean at Wheeler
Rensselaer Central at Bremen
Southmont at Western Boone
Seeger at Cass
Manchester at Eastside
Adams Central at Bluffton
Eastbrook at Rochester
Eastern at Tipton
Park Tudor at Indianapolis Lutheran
Heritage Christian at Monrovia
Northeastern at Triton Central
Lapel at Eastern Hancock
Sullivan at North Posey
Greencastle at Linton-Stockton
Clarksville at Switzerland County
Brownstown Central at Paoli
2025 Indiana (IHSAA) Class 3A Football Bracket
Friday, October 31, 2025 at 7:00 PM ET
Calumet New Tech at Mishawaka Marian
Griffith at Knox
Garrett at Lakeland
Angola at West Noble
Peru at Twin Lakes
Western at Frankton
Mississinewa at Jay County
Norwell at Fort Wayne Bishop Luers
Cascade at Tri-West Hendricks
Crawfordsville at Guerin Catholic
Lawrenceburg at Franklin County
Greensburg at South Dearborn
Indian Creek at Madison
North Harrison at Scottsburg
Evansville Memorial at Gibson Southern
Southridge at Evansville Mater Dei
2025 Indiana (IHSAA) Class 4A Football Bracket
Friday, October 31, 2025 at 7:00 PM ET
East Chicago Central vs Lowell
Hobart vs Kankakee Valley
Mishawaka vs Plymouth
South Bend St. Joseph vs Northridge
East Noble vs Fort Wayne South Side
Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger vs Columbia City
Lebanon vs Frankfort
Logansport vs Muncie Central
Beech Grove vs Yorktown
Greenfield-Central vs Pendleton Heights
Roncalli vs Danville
Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory vs Indianapolis Bishop Chatard
Shelbyville vs Bedford North Lawrence
Charlestown vs Martinsville
Heritage Hills vs Reitz
Evansville Harrison vs Jasper
2025 Indiana (IHSAA) Class 5A Football Bracket
October 31, 2025 at 7 p.m.
Munster at Hammond Central
Merrillville at Hammond Morton
Michigan City at Valparaiso
LaPorte at Chesterton
Warsaw at Concord
Fort Wayne North Side at Goshen
Jefferson at McCutcheon
Kokomo at South Bend Adams
Cathedral at Anderson
New Palestine at Plainfield
Franklin Community at East Central
Columbus East at Whiteland
Terre Haute North Vigo at Bloomington North
Terre Haute South Vigo at Bloomington South
Evansville North at New Albany
Floyd Central at Castle
2025 Indiana (IHSAA) Class 6A Football Bracket
October 31, 2025 at 7 p.m.
Lake Central at Crown Point
Penn at Portage
Carroll at Elkhart
Snider at Fort Wayne Northrop
Zionsville at Westfield
Harrison at Carmel
Hamilton Southeastern at Homestead
Fishers at Noblesville
Ben Davis at Avon
Pike at Brownsburg
North Central at Decatur Central
Lawrence Central at Lawrence North
Southport at Arsenal Technical
Warren Central at Perry Meridian
Jeffersonville at Center Grove
Columbus North at Franklin Central
More from High School On SI
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana State Police are investigating a fatal crash that occurred on Interstate 70 in Indianapolis Sunday night.
According to a notification from the Indiana Department of Transportation, the crash happened on I-70 eastbound near mile marker 86 sometime before 9:43 p.m. The crash forced officials to close the right two lanes of the roadway and part of the ramp connecting Emerson Avenue to I-70 eastbound on the east side of Indianapolis.
State police reported that a semi and red SUV were involved in the crash. ISP indicated that its personnel on the scene confirmed one person was killed in the crash, though troopers are still working to determine if anybody else was injured in the crash.
INDOT and ISP have not indicated exactly how long they will be present on the interstate to investigate the crash.
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