http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/26/teacher.arrest/index.html
Police say teacher hit boy over a broken crayon
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A Fort Lauderdale, Florida, elementary school art teacher shook an 8-year-old student and punched him in the face, causing a bruise, because the youngster broke a crayon, according to a police report obtained Wednesday.
David Adam Grant, 36, a teacher at Sunland Elementary School, turned himself in to police Tuesday in connection with the November 5 incident, police said in a written statement.
According to the report released by Fort Lauderdale police, the mother called police after noticing a bruise over the boy's right eye.
The boy, whose name is redacted in the police report but who is identified as V-1, told police that as his art class was ending, Grant told him to return his crayons to their proper place, the report said. But "before V-1 returned the crayons, one of them broke," according to the police report.
The boy told police that "Grant became angry, walked up to him and grabbed him by the shirt. ... Grant then began to shake V-1 back and forth and then punched him one time," the report said.
The boy said he fell to the ground, and Grant ordered him out of the room. He said he left the room and recounted the incident to another teacher, who told him it was time to learn to "not complain," the report said.
Police said they notified the Broward County Schools' Special Investigation Unit. School officials did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the case Wednesday.
The police statement said authorities think Grant "hit the 8-year-old student around his left eye with a loosely closed fist, causing a bruise over his right eye."
A police officer's affidavit attached to the police report, however, gives some conflicting details.
In the affidavit, the officer states that Grant was detaining four students, including the boy, for disruptive behavior when their homeroom teacher came to retrieve them from art class.
According to statements from the children, the affidavit said, Grant grabbed three of the boys by their shirts and pushed them into a wall before ordering them out of the room. The 8-year-old "stated that after the others left, Grant grabbed him by his shirt and pushed him into the wall, causing him to fall to the ground." Grant then punched the boy, according to the affidavit, and told him to leave the room.
The affidavit said the boy's homeroom teacher was with the class outside when she noticed that the boy's cheeks were red and that he was "visibly upset." The teacher told police she asked him what happened, and he said, "They aren't supposed to do that" but would not tell her more.
When the class members returned to their room, she told police, she asked him again what happened, but he would not tell her, according to the affidavit.
"She told him that if he did not feel comfortable then he should tell his mother when he got home," the affidavit said.
Grant surrendered to police after detectives contacted him, the statement said. He faces child abuse charges. The incident remains under investigation, authorities said.
Police say teacher hit boy over a broken crayon
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A Fort Lauderdale, Florida, elementary school art teacher shook an 8-year-old student and punched him in the face, causing a bruise, because the youngster broke a crayon, according to a police report obtained Wednesday.
David Adam Grant, 36, a teacher at Sunland Elementary School, turned himself in to police Tuesday in connection with the November 5 incident, police said in a written statement.
According to the report released by Fort Lauderdale police, the mother called police after noticing a bruise over the boy's right eye.
The boy, whose name is redacted in the police report but who is identified as V-1, told police that as his art class was ending, Grant told him to return his crayons to their proper place, the report said. But "before V-1 returned the crayons, one of them broke," according to the police report.
The boy told police that "Grant became angry, walked up to him and grabbed him by the shirt. ... Grant then began to shake V-1 back and forth and then punched him one time," the report said.
The boy said he fell to the ground, and Grant ordered him out of the room. He said he left the room and recounted the incident to another teacher, who told him it was time to learn to "not complain," the report said.
Police said they notified the Broward County Schools' Special Investigation Unit. School officials did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the case Wednesday.
The police statement said authorities think Grant "hit the 8-year-old student around his left eye with a loosely closed fist, causing a bruise over his right eye."
A police officer's affidavit attached to the police report, however, gives some conflicting details.
In the affidavit, the officer states that Grant was detaining four students, including the boy, for disruptive behavior when their homeroom teacher came to retrieve them from art class.
According to statements from the children, the affidavit said, Grant grabbed three of the boys by their shirts and pushed them into a wall before ordering them out of the room. The 8-year-old "stated that after the others left, Grant grabbed him by his shirt and pushed him into the wall, causing him to fall to the ground." Grant then punched the boy, according to the affidavit, and told him to leave the room.
The affidavit said the boy's homeroom teacher was with the class outside when she noticed that the boy's cheeks were red and that he was "visibly upset." The teacher told police she asked him what happened, and he said, "They aren't supposed to do that" but would not tell her more.
When the class members returned to their room, she told police, she asked him again what happened, but he would not tell her, according to the affidavit.
"She told him that if he did not feel comfortable then he should tell his mother when he got home," the affidavit said.
Grant surrendered to police after detectives contacted him, the statement said. He faces child abuse charges. The incident remains under investigation, authorities said.
