PALM COAST, Fla. (AP/WPTV) - Authorities say a Florida middle school teacher was arrested after he removed a student from his classroom and pushed him.
Flagler County Sheriff's officials say the Tuesday morning incident began when the Buddy Taylor Middle School teacher, identified as Jeffrey Paffumi, 47, asked the 14-year-old student to stop playing music on his computer.
When the student refused, the teacher muted the sound. The student turned it back on.
This continued two more times until the teacher took the computer. The student used expletives, demanding his computer back. Another student filmed the incident.
The sheriff's office said the incident was captured on video by another student, which showed Paffumi grabbing the student with his right arm, and lifting him out of the chair.
Investigators said Paffumi hooked the student’s left arm with his left arm and lifted the student off his feet and carried him across the classroom. Paffumi pushed the student through the doorway and showed the child down the hall, according to the report.
“As a teacher you have to control your temper even when students test you,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a written statement. “This is an unfortunate incident involving a teacher and a student. My daughter is a school teacher and I know from her how misbehaved some students can be but as a teacher you must deal with it appropriately. Corporal punishment like the old days is not allowed today.”
The teacher was arrested Wednesday on a simple battery charge.
