A disabled child was allegedly handcuffed, punched and then dumped in a class hallway by a security guard in an Oakland High School, with most of the incident being caught on video, Los Angeles Times reported.
The security guard has been fired and charged with felony child abuse after officials discovered the partially captured surveillance video, which showed 23-year-old Marchell Mitchell urging students to clear out of hallways and get to class about 9 a.m. on May 19 alongside another guard, officials said Thursday.
"He slapped me. He hit me so hard, it threw me out of my chair. I hit the floor with my chin first. I had a scar right here," Oakland High School student Francisco Martinez told KTVU, pointing to his chin.
The wheelchair-bound student, who has cerebral palsy, was either slow to move or just refused to leave the hallway, prompting Mitchell to begin pushing the chair to class, Principal Matin Abdel-Qawi wrote in a letter to parents cited by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Martinez, 17, immediately tried slapping away the officer's hands as he tried to push the chair. Mitchell then apparently handcuffed the boy and continued to roll him to class, Abdel-Qawi said.
Martinez admits he then spit on the guard, Huffington Post reported.
"I was handcuffed, so I didn't have no way to defend myself but my mouth," Martinez told KTVU.
When Martinez spat on the officer, he struck the student several times before dumping him out of his chair, officials said.
Mitchell's partner had to restrain him before a school official, who arrived moments later, called police, according to LA Times.
"I'm shocked and deeply hurt by this behavior and apologize on behalf of the staff at Oakland High," Abdel-Qawi said in a statement to Fox 40. "This incident is not reflective of the kind of culture we cherish at our school or how we treat one another."
After being fired the day of the incident, Mitchell has been charged by Alameda County prosecutors with inflicting corporal injury to a child.
He remains free after posting $10,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on June 16, the Chronicle reported.
The surveillance video can be watched here.
