Two Florida educators have been arrested after video of a teacher putting a student in a chokehold earlier this year surfaced — with a vice principal nabbed for allegedly trying to bury the disturbing incident.
Bennie Leverett, a teacher at Progress Village Middle School in Tampa, and school vice principal Tashiska Fabian were arrested in connection to the Jan. 18 melee, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday.
Leverett, 39, put the student in a chokehold, “restricting the student’s ability to breathe,” according to the sheriff’s office and the video.
Leverett allegedly held the student, who is 14, in the chokehold for around four minutes, even pulling the kid to the ground at one point while still grasping him, according to an arrest affidavit cited by the Tampa Bay Times.
The teacher allegedly made students who recorded the scuffle delete their footage before leaving his classroom, the outlet reported.
Once Fabian, 41, learned of the incident, she met with Leverett and the student, but failed to report it to the police or the child abuse hotline, HCSO said.
She also ordered a student who had recorded the scene to delete their video, it added.
Cops, however, were able to recover the video, in which the teacher said, “He isn’t responding to me,” followed by a student saying, “He can’t! He’s dying! You’re killing him!”
In February, the sheriff’s office and the Department of Children and Families visited the school.
Leverett, who was arrested in March, faces child abuse charges. Fabian, who was busted on Wednesday, faces a charge of failing to report child abuse and is being held on a $2,500 bond.
Fabian was “pulled from duty” in February and “let go,” while Leverett resigned from the district in March, Hillsborough County Public Schools told WFLA.
“It is deeply troubling that a teacher would harm a student, but even more so when a person in a position of authority fails to do the right thing and report the crime,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said.
“This is a complete betrayal of trust within our community.”
The investigation is ongoing.