Police claim the incident occurred because the student was upset after the teacher confiscated his cell phone, reports KPRC.
The student, who is reportedly 6 foot 3 and 325 lbs., is seen in the video standing up and pushing the teacher three times. The third push sent the 66-year-old woman falling to the ground.
The teacher had every right to take the student’s cell phone away due to school policy. Multiple students from Nimitz High School have voiced their opinions on the matter to KHOU:
“We have a school policy that we can’t use phones, we can’t use phones during the day, so she was right to take his phone. For him to act that way, it isn’t worth it,” said student Daija Owen. “You can see her walking past to try get away from it. He pushed her twice. The last time she’s on the ground you see her kind of hit her head going down. It wasn’t good a thing to see.”
“She took his phone because he was in class texting,” said senior Calvin Bennet Rainwater. “We’re not supposed to have our phones out. He pushed her like three times.”
The video has gone viral, appearing on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media networks.
Aldine Independent School District released the following statement following the incident:
“Aldine Independent School District police on Thursday filed a criminal charge of injury to an elderly person against a 16-year-old male student. The charge stems from an incident that occurred Thursday afternoon at Nimitz High School when a substitute teacher confiscated the student’s cell phone. The student is accused of physically shoving the substitute teacher to the ground and then retrieving his cell phone. Other students witnessed the incident and immediately reported it to school officials, who then summoned an ambulance and the campus-based police officer. The substitute teacher, who is a retired Aldine teacher, was treated at a local hospital and then released.”
The student turned himself into the principal’s office following the incident. He has been charged with injury to the elderly. Because he is a minor, his name has not been released.
