Video shows principal throwing student to ground
Police: Wogaman Middle School principal tried to stop student who threw punch.
A Dayton middle school principal can be seen throwing a male student to the ground last Friday in a video posted online by a student.
The student said Wogaman Middle School principal Basharus Simmons threw him to the ground after school after the student tried to get at eight other students he thought were threatening his cousin, a Dayton Police report shows.
The student went to Dayton Children’s Hospital for minor injuries to his shin, the police said.
The student’s mother told police the boy’s cousin came home from school to tell the student — who was suspended from school at the time — that eight children planned on “jumping” the cousin.
The suspended student felt he needed to protect his cousin, the police report said, so he went to the school to confront the other students, with a friend and the cousin.
Around 3:15 p.m. Friday, the suspended student kept trying to get at the other eight students, according to the report, and Simmons got between them to try to prevent a fight. When the suspended student got through Simmons and tried to punch another student, Simmons picked him up and threw him to the ground, the report said.
The police report said the suspended student acknowledged he was not supposed to be at school, and the report says the suspended student started Friday’s incident.
“The district is aware of the video and has taken appropriate steps to address the matter,” said Elizabeth Lolli, Dayton Public Schools superintendent. “Per DPS policy, the district cannot comment on personnel issues.”
Police told the student’s mother to handle the incident through the school.
No charges have been filed.