Video shows Fresno student punching teacher in cellphone dispute

A Fresno high school student has been arrested after a video showed her attacking and punching a substitute teacher during class, police said Thursday.

The 15-year-old freshman at Roosevelt High School was booked into a juvenile detention center and held on suspicion of assaulting a teacher and disturbing the peace, Fresno police Lt. Joe Gomez said.

The brutal attack last Friday was filmed by a classmate, who posted the video to social media.

“It was shocking to see that,” Gomez said.

Cellphone video shows the student repeatedly punching the substitute teacher after he took her cellphone away.

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It started when the teacher asked several students fidgeting with their cellphones to put them away, Gomez said. As the student walked over to a charger to connect her cellphone, the teacher snatched it from her.

At that point, police said, the student lost it.

She cussed and began punching the teacher, Gomez said. The teacher walked out of the classroom, but the student followed him and continued punching and scratching his face.

“These were like knockout blows,” Gomez said.

Amy Idsvoog, Fresno Unified School District spokeswoman, said the video was “horrific to watch and completely inexcusable.”

“The safety of our students and our staff is our No. 1 priority and the district has zero tolerance for behavior of this nature, it will not be tolerated,” she said.

The district is taking disciplinary action against the student.

The substitute teacher returned to school Tuesday and was teaching another class. He is doing well, she said.

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