Teacher charged with felony assault

A Chesterfield County science teacher has been charged with felony assault after a parent said her son was pushed against a wall during a fire drill last week and required medical attention.

Tomahawk Creek Middle School teacher Patrick H. Simmons, 29, also was charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault and battery in connection with allegations that he shoved two other students against the same wall.

Police said the students were being unruly and failed to comply with the teacher's instructions during the fire drill on Friday.

Authorities knew nothing about the incident until the mother of one of the boys called 911 early Monday to report that her child had been assaulted, Chesterfield police Capt. Terry Patterson said.

The episode was caught on a surveillance video camera.

The video acquired by police shows students gathering in a courtyard, "and everybody's pretty orderly," Patterson said.

"But you see these three young guys, and they're cutting up -- horseplay, I call it," Patterson said. "And then the next thing you see is this teacher who kind of grabs them and pushes them up against the wall and makes them stand there.

"He just strong-arms them into the wall and lines them up, one, two, three," the captain said. "And then you see them there for a couple of minutes and then [the teacher] goes off with them. He takes them to the office after that."

Police said the boys, ages 12 and 13, failed to comply with the teacher's instructions during the fire drill. Their names were not released because they are juveniles.

The school's resource officer was alerted Monday, and he located the boys, interviewed them and watched the video, Patterson said.

Patterson said he instructed the officer to investigate the matter like any other allegation, and if he found probable cause to file charges, to let a county magistrate decide.

A magistrate determined that charges were warranted.

One of the charges was elevated to a felony because the mother who called 911 said her son required medical attention during the weekend from a physician.

The type or extent of the child's injury was not known.

"There's nothing clear on the tape," Patterson said. "You don't see an actual injury occur on the tape."

Police declined to provide a copy of the video to the Richmond Times-Dispatch or to allow a reporter to view it, because it is evidence in the case.

Simmons, who lives in Powhatan County, surrendered to police Tuesday and was held overnight without bond in the county jail. He was released yesterday after making a brief appearance in Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

Simmons was suspended from his post at school.

"The teacher will not be returning to the classroom pending completion of [an] investigation and final disposition of any resulting disciplinary action," said Shawn Smith, a spokesman for the school system.

Patterson said parents will view this incident differently.

"Some parents are going to have that mentality that, regardless of the situation, you do not put your hands on my child. And then some would say, well, if you're misbehaving, the teacher's got my blessing to deal with it."

Mark Bowes is a staff writer of The Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Feb 04, 2009

content courtesy Chesterfield County Police
A Tomahawk Creek Middle School teacher was arrested on Feb. 3 on charges of assaulting three students between 12 and 13 years old. The arrest was the result of allegations the teacher pushed the students against a wall when they failed to comply with his instructions during a school fire drill on Jan. 30

Patrick H. Simmons, 29, of the 3900 block of Resting Place in Powhatan, is charged with two counts of assault and battery and one count of felonious assault. He turned himself in to police yesterday evening. Simmons is being held without bond in the Chesterfield County Jail pending a pre trial hearing in Chesterfield County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

The students’ names are being withheld due to their ages.