Vallejo teacher arrested for allegedly dragging student from class
VALLEJO, Calif. - A substitute teacher in Vallejo was arrested for allegedly dragging a student from class, an incident that was captured on video.
The incident unfolded at Elite Public Schools in Vallejo on Monday, said Tamra Armstrong, a spokesperson for the school.
The Vallejo Police Department said the substitute teacher was arrested on Tuesday. His identity has not been released.
Neither school officials nor police specified what led to the physical encounter, but they said there was a dispute between the student and teacher that escalated into the physical removal of the student.
That physical contact was "initiated by the substitute teacher," according to Elite Public Schools.
The family of the seventh-grade student said the disagreement started when the teacher told the girl she was not supposed to be in that classroom.
Video surfaced of the altercation showing the teacher grabbing the student, who is seen wearing a gray hoodie, and pulling her to the ground. The teacher is then seen dragging the student by her legs from the classroom.
The student's peers appear to be recording the altercation.
"This is never OK," the teacher is heard saying.
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The girl is heard repeatedly asking for the teacher to let go of them.
The family said the girl is traumatized by the ordeal. They said she is still nursing some bruises and wounds.
"She basically has a knot on her head, and she’s kind of bruised up a little bit, but she keeps saying her neck hurts," said the girl's aunt, Darrina Bernstine.
Bernstine said her niece is just 13 years old.
"It’s like somebody you’re supposed to trust actually throwing you around like that at school, where you’re supposed to be safe, that’s not OK," said Bernstine.
The school condemned the actions of the substitute teacher, saying it was deeply troubled by what occurred on the campus.
"The conduct exhibited by the substitute teacher directly violates our school’s established policies and fundamental values," the school wrote. "Following the incident, immediate decisive action was taken, resulting in the prompt removal of the substitute teacher from the campus and the performance of a thorough investigation."
The school has not said what employment agency the substitute teacher directly works for, but said it has been in communication with them.
Bernstine said Elite Public Schools did not call police. Instead, the family had to file a report.
"They failed to give me the teacher’s name, and I was so baffled because how could you protect this guy’s innocence and you clearly didn’t protect my niece from being attacked by this grown man," said the girl's aunt.
Police said the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Bernstine said, "I think that he needs to be punished because I don’t want to see him do this to somebody else’s kid."