‘I never choked him’
Former specialist at Woodland Hills school testifies he didn’t intend to grab student by the neck
A former behavioral specialist at the Woodland Hills alternative school denied that he meant to grab a student by the neck and drag him down a hallway to his classroom last year.
Joseph Golden III testified in court Wednesday that he was escorting the 13-year-old student back to his classroom and was forced to grab the boy when the student became “physically aggressive.” His hands inadvertently moved to the student’s neck as he flailed during the struggle, he said.
“I never choked him,” Mr. Golden said.
Mr. Golden, 51, was charged by Allegheny County police with simple assault and endangering the welfare of a child after the April 2017 incident at the Rankin Promise school, which was captured on surveillance video. Closing arguments in his jury trial are expected to begin Thursday.
After several character witnesses — including a former Steel Valley student who played on the football team Mr. Golden coached — testified that Mr. Golden was “honest”
and “law-abiding,” Mr. Golden took the stand in his own defense. He told the jury he has worked with kids in alternative education or delinquency programs for 20 years.
“My job was to escort him safely to the room,” Mr. Golden testified. “When he became physical, all I did was react to him.”
He said trouble with that student began early in the day, when he was called to the school’s main entrance by a security guard who was arguing with the boy over possession of a cell phone, which was against school rules. Mr. Golden, who said part of his job as a behavioral specialist was to monitor the school hallways and “maintain order,” saw the boy leave his class multiple times throughout the morning and asked him four or five times to return to his class.
The last time the student left the class — shortly after noon — he refused to return and continued walking down the hallway toward Mr. Golden, swearing and cursing, Mr. Golden said. That’s when Mr. Golden said he moved toward the boy and attempted to guide him by the shoulder back to his class. The boy knocked his arm away, Mr. Golden said. He then put a hand on the boy’s chest and back and attempted to “brace” him against the wall as the student swung his arms.
The surveillance footage of the incident shows Mr. Golden rise from a chair and grab the student. The student’s feet can be seen leaving the ground as Mr. Golden drags him and pushes him into a wall and down the hallway.
The district suspended Mr. Golden following the incident and moved to terminate his employment. Charges were filed against Mr. Golden after investigators reviewed the surveillance videos at Rankin Promise and received reports through the state’s Childline abuse hotline.
The incident occurred around the same time last year that the Woodland Hills School District made national headlines after surveillance video was released of other incidents involving students at Woodland Hills High School.
In a 2015 incident, school resource Officer Steve Shaulis was recorded grabbing a 15-year-old student, placing him in a choke hold and then shocking him with a Taser as former Principal Kevin Murray helped hold the student down.
A second video showed another April 2017 incident involving Que’Chawn Wade, 14, who said his tooth was knocked out when Officer Shaulis punched him during a scuffle in a room not monitored by a video camera.
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office is investigating whether Officer Shaulis used excessive force in the April 2017 incident at the high school.
Mr. Murray, who was placed on administrative leave in fall 2016 after he was recorded threatening to punch a student, was reinstated the following January and was not charged with a crime. He resigned as high school principal and head football coach last summer.
Five former students sued the district in August, alleging a culture of abuse.