A Florida school employee was beaten and knocked unconscious by a student after she took away his Nintendo Switch, according to police.
A 17-year-old high school student at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast, Florida, has been arrested and charged this week after being accused of attacking a woman who took away his video game during class. The student, who police said is 6-foot-6 and weighs about 270 pounds, has been charged with felony aggravated battery with bodily harm.
“The actions of this student are absolutely horrendous and completely uncalled for,” Sheriff Rick Staly, of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, said in a statement. “We hope the victim will be able to recover, both mentally and physically, from this incident. Thankfully, students and staff members came to the victim’s aid before the SRDs could arrive.”
Surveillance footage of the incident shows the woman being attacked after she was knocked to the ground. According to investigators, she was then punched and kicked in the head about 15 times by the boy while unconscious. Several bystanders intervened and pulled the boy away from the woman, who was heavily bleeding due to the attack.
The story is this teacher took away his Nintendo and he chased her down and beat the hell out of her.
What is wrong with these kids… pic.twitter.com/83wPdja2yt
— Hodgetwins (@hodgetwins) February 24, 2023
“The student was escorted from the area and later placed in custody. The 17-year-old student was transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and later turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice,” the sheriff’s office said.
While he was being detained the boy said “f*** you, I don’t want to go to jail” when asked by an officer if he would cooperate as they transported him to detention. He also claimed that he had “more important places to be.”
Police say that before the attack, the accused said “when he comes back he is going to kill her” and that he “will beat her up every time she takes away his game,” after the employee, who has been with the school since 2004, took away the game.
The woman, who reportedly had several broken ribs due to the attack, was hospitalized but later released. A GoFundMe to support her has raised more than $60,000. In a comment on the page, the woman thanked her donors for their generosity, although she denied ever confiscating the student’s Nintendo Switch.
The school condemned the violence in a statement and said it would continue to work to make its school’s safe. “Creating a safe learning and working environment on our campuses is critical,” said Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt. “Violence is never an appropriate reaction.”