Family Says It Will Press Charges After St. Croix Student Was Knocked Unconscious in School Restraint; VIPD Investigates

ST. CROIX — The family of a young man who was knocked unconscious after being placed in a headlock by a school monitor at the St. Croix Educational Complex says it has reported the matter to police and intends to press charges, while the V.I. Police Department has told the family the case is under investigation.   Speaking Tuesday night with The Consortium, the boy’s father, Kervin Dujon, said the family did not initially realize how serious the incident was until video of the encounter surfaced online.

He said the student’s mother went to the school after the incident, where the monitor explained that he had to hold the child down. According to Dujon, the family did not at first know that the boy had passed out.  “What happened is that we didn't know how serious it was until the video came out,” Dujon said. “When the video came out and we saw exactly what happened, he did not say that my son had passed out or anything like that.  The video shows all of that."  Dujon said the video shows the monitor with his son in what he described as a chokehold while another staff member tried to pull the man’s hands away. He said his son was not fighting back and instead was trying to breathe. 

“My son even threw up his hands in the air like he gave up,” Dujon said. “He wasn't even fighting him back, or nothing. My son was trying to breathe.”  He said the boy then lost consciousness and was slapped while being told to wake up.  The father said the student is now physically okay, but remains shaken by what happened. “Well, for right now, he's okay, but he's traumatized,” Dujon said, adding that his son is afraid to go to sleep because he is worried about whether he will wake up.  According to Dujon, the confrontation began after his son was sent to study hall because he did not have class at that time. He said the staff member in charge of study hall told the student he could go in, but another employee accused him of skipping class. Dujon said his son insisted he was not skipping and that when the matter was checked, he was found to be telling the truth.   READ MORE...https://viconsortium.com/vi-community_center/virgin-islands-family-says-it-will-press-charges-after-st--croix-student-was-knocked-unconscious-in-school-restraint--vipd-investigates