MANCHESTER - A Burr and Burton Academy student was arraigned on a felony charge on Monday after police said he choked a fellow student on May 10 while inside a Depot Street restaurant.
Dylan R. Durnham, 17, of East Dorset, pleaded innocent in Bennington criminal court to aggravated assault. He was released without bail.
Police said they were called to the restaurant around 4:30 p.m. on May 10 by another student who said he had seen Durnham grab his friend by the throat after a verbal argument. Police noted the third student’s neck was “slightly red and blotchy.”
In an interview at the police station, the third student said Durnham had been trying to pick a fight before grabbing him by the throat. The third student said Durnham had called him by a derogatory name after grabbing him.
Police met with Durnham and his grandmother on May 11. Durnham said the third student had been bullying him for some time and said that at the restaurant on May 10 “it came to a head.’ According to the affidavit, Durnham gave police an “in-depth” account of the alleged bullying.
Durnham admitted to grabbing the third student by the throat, police said.
Judge David Howard ordered Durnham to observe a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. except when he’s working and told Durnham he could have incidental contact with the other students while they were at school.