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Parents sue school, police and security for excessive force www.privateofficer.com
Named in the suit are Genesa Smith, a teacher; Eugene Page, a St. Louis police officer who the suit said is Smith’s boyfriend; Rodney Williams, a security guard; Tamara Thomas, the charter school’s principal at the time; and the school itself.
The suit, filed by the boy and his mother, Barbara Perry, alleges Page lifted the boy by his throat and slammed him repeatedly against a wall on Feb. 26. The suit states that Page told the boy he had been accused of threatening a teacher, and that the other three knew what was happening but did nothing. The boy, now 16, suffered injuries that caused blood in his urine, as well as blunt force trauma, according to the suit.
Paul Feber, the school’s regional vice president, said Friday that school officials and lawyers were looking into the case. He also said that Smith, Williams and Thomas no longer are employed at the school, but he declined to elaborate.
Police did not respond Friday night to a request for information about Page’s employment status with the department.
Police have said officers have been called to the school at 706 North Jefferson Avenue several times during the last school year. In April, a female student suffered serious injuries when she was stabbed in the stomach with a pencil during a fight with another girl. Two school security officers suffered minor injuries as they arrested a female suspect. A teacher also suffered a minor injury, police said.
About an hour later, a group of students at the front doors became unruly. An officer who tried to restrain a girl broke his wrist and suffered ligament damage to a knee when he fell in the parking lot as she escaped his grasp and ran
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