Miami police arrest 7-year-old boy for punching his teacher
On Thursday morning, a 7-year-old Miami first-grader was placed in handcuffs and arrested after punching a teacher.
According to local station WSVN, the little boy had been playing with his food, and his teacher took him out of the cafeteria to punish him. That’s when, according to a police report, he “attacked the teacher by repeatedly punching her on her back, in the hallway.”
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Although the child was restrained, he was able to get back to the teacher, again hitting her and even “grabbing her hair and pulling it towards him.”
Eventually, the boy was restrained again, calmed down, and went to the principal’s office at Coral Way K-8 Center in Miami.
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“I feel like my heart is broken”
The child’s mother, Mercy Alvarez, and father, Rolando Fuentes, went to the school and agreed to a 10-day suspension. But they were shocked when the police officer told them she had to arrest the little boy or bring him in for a psychological evaluation.
The little boy was placed in handcuffs, to the shock of his parents.
“I feel like my heart is broken,” Alvarez, who was reportedly brought to tears, said.
“I was in shock. Shock,” Fuentes said.
“This is police abuse; a whim of the officer, because my son was calm when they came to look for him,” Alvarez told El Nuevo Herald afterwards.
The parents were also floored when the teacher said that she wanted to press charges against their son.
“Says he’s a danger to society. I said, ‘What? Seven years old? A danger to society?’” said Fuentes.
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Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Ian Moffett released a statement saying that this was a standard response, noting, “This action was warranted to prevent his erratic and violent behavior from bringing further harm to others or himself. The manner in which he was transported to the receiving facility was done in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures.”
The little boy isn’t unknown to police, either. They were called to the school in November because he reportedly kicked a teacher.
As for his parents, they are demanding an explanation, especially for the decision to handcuff their son, which they say was over the line.
“We have to make justice,” said Fuentes.
The school police are reportedly reviewing the incident.
