Severely Injured Teen’s Dad Reveals Shocking New Details About Campus Mystery

We have some updates for you on the. chilling case of 15-year-old August. Bordon, the young football player who. was rushed to a hospital with. life-threatening injuries. We have still. no real explanation of what happened. It. is very strange to say the least, but. right now we have some new information. and we are going to bring back on. August's father, Jason, who has some. updates of his own. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. [Music]. Okay, so we have a follow-up on this. very, very weird, strange story that we.

covered a few weeks back. It's the case. of 15-year-old August Bordon out of. Tuscumbia, Alabama. So on August 19th, August, a freshman, a football player at. Dashler High School, had to be airlifted. away after what authorities would later. say was suffering extensive extensive. injuries. According to People magazine, a concussion, orbital fractures. underneath each eye, and a fracture in. his skull behind his sinus cavity. Apparently, he spent hours upon hours in.

the ICU. He had to be intubated. Now, thankfully, he has been released from. the hospital. We're going to talk a. little bit more about his current. condition uh with his father, see how. he's doing. But, of course, the question. is how did this happen? And as we last. reported, the serious concern is is. August doesn't seem to remember what. happened. The circumstances surrounding. this event. That is what's unclear. That's what makes this a mystery. Now, according to WAY, August mother, Kristen.

Van Devender, was told by the school. that her son had sustained injuries from. a traumatic fall. You know, maybe. falling down the stairs or something. like that. The reporting was is that he. was found near these stairs. But the. family seems to not be accepting that. narrative. So again, we're going to be. talking with Jason Bordon in a little. bit. You're also going to hearing about. Drew. Uh Drew is August's stepfather. So. you hear all the players. Now, according. to People magazine, the family has been. told that medical professionals say that. these injuries were not consistent with.

a fall. And again, we're going to bring. Jason on in a minute because we had him. on last month to talk about his son. Now, he's got some updates for us, too. But I want to share some new information. as well since we last spoke. So first, on August 28th, the Dysumbia Police. Department announced on Facebook, quote, "After two weeks of investigation, the. Dysumbia Police Department has taken the. case from Dashler High School and has. transferred it to the Franklin County. Juvenile Probation Office. They're also. receiving assistance from the Madison. County District Attorney's Office. All.

of the subjects and witnesses, with. exception of the coaches, are all under. the age of 18. So that is where the case. will have jurisdiction. Now, according. to People, Madison County DA Robert. Brousard has come out and said, "We were. appointed to go in and look at the. matter, and that's presently what we're. doing." He emphasized that he will focus. quote on hard evidence of people who. actually saw something or can testify. Now, it should be noted that even though. Madison is about 50 miles away or so. from the high school where this event.

happened, this appears to be necessary. because the local DA reportedly recused. himself. Now, there may be some personal. connection or a conflict. We're not. entirely sure what that may be, but. clearly the case has been transferred. WF48. obtained a statement from Tuscumbia City. School Superintendent Russell Tate. This. is important. provided a little bit more. detail about what allegedly happened. here. So, this was apparently a letter. that was sent out, including to the. parents. Quote, "Tumba City Schools.

understands that there have been many. questions regarding the unfortunate. incident that took place last Tuesday. While we're limited in what we can share. at this point due to federal privacy. laws and an ongoing investigation by the. Dysumbia Police Department, because they. were handling it at the time, I am aware. of the widespread public attention and. will share what I can. According to. supervising coaches, all players were. walking from the wait room to the locker. room after working out on August 19th. A. coach was in the locker room to open the. door and ensure supervision of the. players when they walked in the locker. room. All the other players and coaches.

were walking back with coaches. intermingled with the players. When the. incident happened, there were employees. supervising the students. Employees at. the scene immediately called 911 and. implemented the emergency action plan. for athletics. The first course of. action was to ensure that the student. was taken care of medically. The 911. center advised the coaches to begin CPR. At no time was a pulse lost and the. ambulance arrived approximately 5. minutes after the call came to them. After the student was stabilized, Tuscumbia City Schools began calling the.

parents of the student. Again, our first. priority is to ensure the students. immediate medical needs are attended to. even prior to calling a parent. While. Tuscumbia City Schools does utilize. security cameras, unfortunately, there. are no cameras in this specific location. as it is located over a 100red yards. from any entrance area to the school. After the incident occurred, we. immediately began launching an. investigation which included. interviewing all known witnesses the. following day. Due to the Family. Educational Rights and Privacy Act, we. are unable to discuss the results of our.

internal investigation, which has now. been turned over to the Tumbia Police. Department, who will continue conducting. the investigation into this incident. Again, this is a prior statement. We are. cooperating with them in the. investigation. We ask for the public's. patience as the authorities learn more. about what happened. And we ask that the. public refrain from personal attacks on. students, faculty, or staff as everyone. is focused on understanding what. happened. This situation has been. incredibly difficult on the entire TCS. community, especially our students and. our employees. We are providing. counseling for any student or employee.

who may need the additional support. Our. primary focus on the day of the incident. was to ensure that a student at Dashler. High School received proper medical care. and allow the investigation to determine. what happened. Once the investigation. has been completed and we understand, we. can begin the process to determine how. to prevent or mitigate incidents like. this in the future. We ask that you keep. the injured student and his family in. your thoughts and prayers as he. continues to recover and that you also. remember all of our students during this. time. If you're aware of any information. that would assist in the investigation, please contact the Dumbia Police.

Department. All further comments. regarding this investigation should be. directed to the Tumbia Police. Department. Then Robert Bissell Belle, director of federal programs for the. Tuscumbia City Schools, told People. magazine recently, quote, "There's not a. lot we can talk about." Referred again. to Tate's statement and again confirmed. that there were no security cameras at. the location. He further said, "There's. not a whole lot of detail out there yet, and that's kind of why people are. concerned around here. They want. answers. We're not ready to give.

answers. We don't have all the. information yet. You don't want to do. too much before all the facts are in. You come down hard on somebody and you. want to make sure you know what. happened. Now, as you can see, this is a. story that we're going to stay on top. of. And I want to call out our sponsor, Upside, who helps make these episodes. happen. Now, Upside is great. It is a. free app that gets you cash back when. you buy Daily Essentials. So, I pump my. gas, I can use Upside. I go out to. lunch, I can use Upside. I get something. in a convenience store, I can use. Upside. And why wouldn't I want to get. cash back when I do all these things, right? This is actual real cash back.

It's money that appears in your Upside. app that you transfer right into your. bank account. So, once you have the free. Upside app, you claim an offer for. whatever you're buying on Upside. You. pay as usual using a debit or credit. card. You follow the steps on the app. You get paid. So, to find out how much. you can earn, click the link in the. description to download Upside or scan. the QR code on screen. But make sure to. use our promo code Sidebar because. you'll get an extra 25 cents back on. every gallon on your first tank of gas. Okay, so now let me bring back on to. Sidebar August's father, Jason Bordon. So happy to see you again, Jason. I. mean, it's been several weeks. There.

have been developments. First, I have to. ask you how August is doing. How's he. feeling? What's the state of his. recovery right now? >> Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you so. much for having me on again. Um, I did. want to just also shout out, you know, your fan base and, uh, thank everyone. for the emails, the the texts, um, everything that you've done, the. donations. It means so much to me and my. family, and it means a ton to August. So, thank you so much. >> It's it's our pleasure. uh but we. definitely wanted to expand upon this. story, get attention to it. So, I'm very. happy to hear that you've uh been.

receiving that support. That's awesome. >> Absolutely. Thank you so much. Um as far. as August is going, you know, it's it is. a long road to recovery. Every day it. seems like I'm getting a little bit. closer back to my son, back to the son. that I had the day before this happened. Um he's looking better. He's he's up. walking around and talking and you know, that's important. Um, but one thing that. we didn't know last time you and I spoke. was that August did technically die that. day. Um, we didn't know, no one ever. told us until about a week ago that.

August lost pulse and had to uh be. resuscitated. That he had no heartbeat. That was never made clear to us. And. that's a hard thing to hard pill to. swallow. >> The the medical professionals, the. doctors didn't tell you this at the. time. >> No, never. We actually just saw August's. medical report for the first time last. Wednesday afternoon and read it for. ourselves. Was never mentioned to us. >> How Oh my gosh. H how long was he. without a pulse? >> We don't know. They didn't say, but.

could have been minutes, seconds. We. don't really know. But the fact is is. that this case is even deeper than it. was last time you and I spoke because, you know, we're fortunate that he's. alive. That's the most important. But. the fact is that my son did die on that. school property on August the 19th. that is. >> at the hands of another student. >> Jason, just this medical report, did you. learn anything else from it as well? >> Yeah. Um, so you know, at this point, remember we've mentioned that the uh in.

the past that the school told the police. that nothing happened. My silly son just. fell and tripped over his shoelaces and. hit his head. Um, we saw that medical. report and it states on there that this. is from this is what someone at the. school um told the paramedics when they. arrived. They told them that August had. been acting strange all day. They told. him that he had been throwing up, which. never happened. Both of those things are. not true. So why did the school go out. of their way to tell this to the. paramedic? They also stated that August,

the Friday night before, he played in a. scrimmage game for football and August. was hit during the football game. His. helmet flew off, hit his chin, he had a. little scrape on his chin. They took him. off the sideline. They did the full. concussion check. Everything worked out. fine. Um, he was not put on any sort of. concussion protocol. He worked out and. and practiced the following Monday and. he was in mid- practice on Tuesday. had. he been under any sort of concussion. protocol, he wouldn't have been in that.

situation in the first place. But they. told uh the paramedics that this is. probably what caused it, despite the. fact that the school official told me, "This child picked up your son from. behind and squeezed him, knocked all of. his air out, and dropped him on the. ground.". >> That is unbelievable. Oh my god. It is. >> Um and that's what I want to get into. That's what because the obviously we're. still trying to figure out what's going. on here. That's the big concept here. Going back to August though, in his. recovery, have they indicated to you uh.

when he might be and and I don't know. when he might be able to go back to. school, when he might be able to go back. to his life in a way? Um any indication. about that? >> Yeah, we're, you know, we've still got. several months worth of appointments. with specialists stacked up both from a. physical standpoint and a mental. standpoint. Um at this point, going back. to school is not really in the question. you know, we'll get to that when it. comes. Um, I personally don't feel like. him missing anything in pre-alggebra is. is too pressing at the moment, but.

unfortunately, we do know that August. will never play another contact sport. again. And that um, you know, that. incident took away his dream. >> I'm I'm so sorry to hear that because I. know football was an important part of. his life and family's life. I'm I'm. really really so sorry to hear that. Um, does he does he remember anything. anything about what happened? Yeah. The. last thing, you know, I've talked to him. and I try to be careful with my wording. and, you know, I don't want to do. anything that as far as remembering,

August remembers being in the weight. room, which, you know, if you look back. at at the original report, um, what we. were told is that August was in the. weight room, they were lifting weights, and then they had left to go to their. actual football practice down on the. field. and the event happened um. somewhere halfway between the weight. room and and the actual football field. The last thing August remembers is being. in that weight room, which you know that. brings up a a huge uh point that that.

email address that we set up, justice. faroggmail.com. Um, we've received several reports. there, several emails from people. reaching out that claim to be. eyewitnesses that have a a new. interesting theory and story that we. have never heard before. And that theory. is we have a um several people have. reached out and said that this event. didn't happen on those stairs. That it. actually happened somewhere around the. wait room, whether it was the entrance, the exit, somewhere around that area, and that several football players picked.

August's body up and carried him to that. area where they laid him down and then. called 911. >> Now, that is a new detail. That is. something that we didn't get a chance to. talk about last time. So, I I was I. wanted to ask you, I mean, what are you. learning? What are you hearing since the. last time we spoke that there has been. uh some developments in terms of who's. handling the case? Um let me first start. here. The last time we spoke, the police. department had said they didn't have an. opportunity to speak with August. Has. any has any law enforcement agency.

spoken to August? >> No, they have not. Um and you know, I. did want to go back and just mention one. thing that this is new information for. you too. Um, and this is about the. Tuscambia Police Department, the. original police department that was. handling the investigation. So, if you. remember, I went to them on August the. 22nd and filed the initial police. report. They claimed to me that, you. know, they were told at the school that. this was just a kid that fell down and. hit his head. No reason for a police. report. Um, that was August 22nd. On.

August the 26th, Drew and Kristen, which. is August's stepdad and mother, um, they. were speaking to the lead investigator. And again, they've had this case now for. four days. Um, Drew asked the lead. investigator, "Hey, have you have you. spoken to the prime suspect yet?" And. remember, this is we're talking about. the prime suspect because this is who. the school uh told us on those reported. phone calls 3 hours after the incident. exactly who who did this to my son. Drew.

asked, "Have you spoken to the prime. suspect?" And he said, "Who are you. talking about, Drew?" And Drew, you. know, named the name of who did this? and he said, 'N no, uh, we haven't yet. And Drew asks, "Why have you not spoken. to him?" And the investigator replies. back, and it's on a recorded call. He. replies back, "Well, Drew, it's a it's a. complicated situation.". >> Where is that call? >> Oh, we have it recorded. >> I have everything recorded. >> What do you plan to do with it? >> Right now, we're just holding on to it.

because this it feels like, in my. opinion, that this is something that's. going to go far deeper than just getting. justice for my son. I I want to expand. upon that because what do you think is. going on? What are you learning more. about authorities here? I mean, the case. has been transferred to the Franklin. County Juvenile Probation Office. They're having the help of the Madison. County District Attorney's Office. What. did you make of that? >> Well, I'll tell you another uh fact that. has happened since you and I spoke last. So, on August the 28th, this is 2 days. later after um the lead investigator.

told Drew they still haven't spoken to. the prime suspect. This is a recorded. call. the lead investigator reached out. to Drew and said, "Drew, uh, you know, we're we're sorry this is taking so. long. We've decided we're going to push. forward with, uh, assault in the third. degree to the minor." And at this point, we're like, you know, feeling two ways. Number one, you can see the pictures of. my son. That is not what assault in the. third degree looks like. Um, it is. absolutely assault in the first degree. assault in the third degree is is a.

minor misdemeanor, a slap on the wrist, couple hundred dollars, and get out. there and win more football games. Um, so, you know, I'm I'm pissed about this. Um, I call the lead investigator. I. leave him a voicemail that said that we. need to talk about the difference. between first-degree and thirdderee. assault charges because it sounds like. he doesn't understand the difference. To. this day, that investigator still never. returned my call. Um, but we did at. least have that closure that, okay, they're they're working with us now. They've determined that, you know,

something happened. Um, the story lines. up with what the school told us that. someone else did this to my son and. they're moving forward with assault in. the third degree. This investigator said. to Drew, "Um, how about tomorrow?" which. would be August the 29th, last Friday. How about tomorrow? I'll come by. We'll. go over the details. I'll meet with you. and Kristen and and we'll discuss. everything. Um, that day totally. ghosted. Um, and we found out just like. you mentioned that the case is being. turned over to an entirely different uh.

jurisdiction 2 hours away. >> And have you spoken to these the this. new agency or either of the new agencies. that are assisting in this. investigation? >> Yeah, we have. Um, I spent about two. hours with the Madison District Attorney. Office uh last Tuesday afternoon. Um, and we we had a good conversation with. them. We did find out that the news. report went out a little early. Franklin. is not involved in this at all. They did. get reached out and asked to be a part. of it and they politely declined. So, it.

is just strictly with Madison District. Attorney Office. >> Okay, that's good to know. That's good. to know. Um, do you do you know why it. was transferred? I there was reporting. about some sort of conflict of interest. Um, do you know what happened there? >> Yeah, I mean I think there is a huge. conflict of interest there. Um it. appears to me that this is a small town. uh where everyone knows each other and. you know we've seen from from different. judges and different uh police that you.

know they all say oh that we're all too. close to this you know this area. everyone the district attorney in that. area uh his children go there he donates. money to the school there um the the. police their children go there the judge. his son is on the football team right. everyone's just a little too close to. this area, which leads to a bigger. question of if everyone is so close, if. everyone is involved with that school, what what actual cases can they work. there? Because it seems that if you're.

that close, you just can't do anything, right? >> And that's a fair point. And now that. there is now in the hands of uh Madison. County, that conversation that you had. with them, and obviously you don't have. to disclose what was said, but do you. feel confident in them handling this. investigation? Yeah, as of right now, I. have no reason to to um doubt their, you. know, the kind of work that they. provide. I think we've got two things. working for us. Number one, um it's two. hours away. I think that they're far.

enough outside that bubble to where. there shouldn't be any sort of uh. influence there that could lead to. impartiality. Um the second thing working for us is. that not to bring any like you know not. to make less of our own case but we're. talking about now a area that um that. oversees the second biggest city in the. state. It has nearly half a million. population and not to make any less of. our own case but you know they work with. things like this far more often than. what that small police force in Tuscia.

would do. So, I think that that's good. for us because, you know, we've gotten. hopefully away from the impartiality, plus they know the right questions to. ask. Um, I think they're a little bit. better equipped. >> And did they give you a timeline on when. they might what they might be doing, when they might have an answer or no? >> No, just Okay. Uh, we're going to be. working on it. You can trust us. And. these things take a while. So, yeah, but. you know, it goes back to the question. of why did the last police rece uh why. did the last police force tell us that.

they'd made a decision we would be. pressing forward with an assault charge? Like, why? At this point, they told us. that we're essentially starting over. from scratch. Tomorrow, um is exactly 3. weeks from the moment the accident. happened. And to this day, the the prime. suspect has still not been um in any way. reprimanded by the school. they're still. uh playing football every week, which. goes against the school's own student. handbook. If two students are involved. in any sort of physical altercation, it.

states right in their handbook that that. child or either child is not uh eligible. to play any sort of extracurricular. activity, including football, for 10. days. And we have, you know, report from. the school exactly who did it. So, I. don't understand like it's like they're. just glossing over their own rules. What. what let's talk just a little bit more. about the school and what you make of. their response because the. superintendent Tate uh said due to. privacy laws there's only so much they. can say about what happened. Um what did.

you make of that response? Have you been. in contact with him? Have you been in. contact with the school? Um what are you. hearing on that end? >> Yeah. No, I have not been in any contact. with the school. I asked uh for contact. and at this point, you know, it's very. clear that this is a very uh one-sided. um investigation as far as the school. goes. You know, they to this day um this. is, like I said, tomorrow is 3 weeks. from the moment this happened, the. school principal still hasn't had the. decency to call anyone in our family and.

even offer a 30- secondond apology for. the fact that my son died on that school. property that afternoon. So, no, I don't. think the school is is working with us. and at this point there's no reason to. contact them. >> You talked about how, you know, you. coming on here on sidebar, how it's. helped. Unfortunately, I I was just in. Crime Con and one of the common themes. that we kept talking about was it. sometimes takes a story to be out there. to spread to get a lot of awareness for.

there actually to be change, for there. actually to be things that happen. Have. you seen that here? Have you seen as. this story has made waves in local. media, online, have you seen a change in. the response that you're getting? >> Absolutely. It feels like I I will be. completely transparent with you. I fully. believe um that had it not been for uh. this video that you and I recorded, had. it not been for Katie Watson Hall, who. is been a huge advocate online for us.

that I've recorded a couple of podcasts. with. Had it not been for this would. have never made it to mainstream media. It would never have the attention that. it gets. I don't think that the school. would have taken this any further. I. don't think that um the police would. have eventually, you know, caved and and. transferred it over to a different. department. So, it's made a huge difference. >> So, what if people are watching this, what can they do to help? What can they. do to help you? What can they do to help. August? What can they help? Obviously, and I want to be clear, I know there was.

a concern about people online maybe. targeting or harassing individuals that. are connected to this case. That's not. what we're saying whatsoever. Sure. >> People do want to help in some way. What. can they do? >> Well, number one, you know, I I want to. overload the district attorney office. with as much information as possible. I. understand that, you know, we've heard. reports that the kids at school have. been told repeatedly that they are not. allowed to speak on this. Um, which, you. know, that's that's not legal. Um, they.

every bit of them have the right to say. something if they saw something. I set. up at this email address that we. mentioned earlier, justice. faroggmail.com. Um, and we're asking anyone. I don't. care if you go and create a fake email. address and uh send us something from. there. those reports have been helpful. Um, everything that I can send to the. district attorney office is going to. help us. So, continue to send those. over. I'm asking you to not be afraid to. speak up. I'm asking you that if um the.

the district attorney approaches you and. and asks you to step out of class. because your name might be connected to. this, I'm asking you to just tell the. truth. And um you know the I did want to. address too about the um the the parent. outrage people in that community that. feel like you know that this is. unfortunate that maybe your child is in. their senior year of high school and. this is uh problematic because now they. have to walk through a metal detector to. go to the football games. Um they you. know there's e extra police force.

present at school. Um and for that you. know I'm sorry that that that happened. I'm sorry that this has to happen, but. I'm asking you to please remember that. August didn't choose this. August didn't. choose to be injured. He this happened. at the hands of another student. Um, if. you're upset about that, you know that. it has to be this way now at that. school, then remember the the school had. a choice to lie or to tell the truth. That is why the things are the way they. are now. If the school chooses tomorrow.

to to come clean and tell the police. exactly what happened, every bit of this. goes away. It never had to be this way. >> Jason, first of all, let me just say I'm. happy that you came back on. I'm happy. that you came back back on to talk about. these developments. These are shocking. developments to say the least. Um, obviously you have an open platform. We. are going to continue to cover this. case. Um, I'm glad you put you mentioned. again the website for everybody who has. information to submit it there and our. hearts, our prayers, our well wishes are.

with August and the family and you and. the family. Um, I know this is. incredibly difficult time. I know he has. a very long road to recovery, but again, um, we're wishing the best and I look. forward to speaking to you soon. >> Awesome. Thank you so much for having me. on, Jesse. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us and as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your. podcast. You can follow me on Instagram. or X. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you next. time.

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