Charlotte school security officer injured by student www.privateofficer.com
John Robbins, a longtime employee of the CMS security force, was attacked Tuesday morning while breaking up a fight, said Bud Cesena, head of CMS law enforcement.
Cesena said Robbins was hit in the temple by a male student; officers are investigating whether a ring or something in the student’s hand added to the severity of the injury. A “shank” made from a sharpened screwdriver was found in the student’s book bag after he was arrested, Cesena said.
Angel Brown Vazquez, 17, has been charged with four misdemeanor counts: assault inflicting serious injury, assault on a school employee, resisting an officer and carrying a concealed weapon.
Cesena said officers are talking to the district attorney’s office about whether additional charges are warranted.
“We think we need to send a real strong message about this, that you just cannot assault people in schools,” Cesena said.
Superintendent Peter Gorman said he couldn’t comment on discipline against any specific student, but said that attacks on school staff generally result in expulsion.
Sheriff’s office records show one previous arrest for Vazquez: In January he was charged with breaking into a “coin/currency machine,” a misdemeanor.
Cesena said the incident began as an argument among four girls. Robbins and others intervened and had one girl in restraints when Vazquez, who was not part of the initial dispute, hit Robbins, Cesena said.
Robbins was part of CMS’s “rapid response team,” which goes to various schools as needed. Cesena said Robbins’ wife told him Thursday morning that plastic surgery went well and Robbins should be released from the hospital in a couple of days. The couple does not want to be interviewed, Cesena said.
Campus security guards, who are not sworn police officers, are often called on to deal with fights. But Cesena, a former Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer who took the CMS job in 2006, said it’s rare for one to be seriously injured: “This is the worst since I’ve been here.”
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