A Council Bluffs high school teacher has been jailed on accusations that she put a special needs student in a choke hold.
According to court documents, witnesses said it isn’t the first time the teacher has done it.
Donna M. Thomas, 53, turned herself into police on Tuesday after the Pottawattamie County Attorney filed criminal charges.
According to court documents obtained by KETV NewsWatch 7, Thomas has more than 21 years of teaching experience in Iowa. But in this case, Council Bluffs police said she went too far in restraining a Thomas Jefferson High School student.
The father of the 15-year-old boy, who has autism, reported the incident to police in November after he said he was alerted by a school worker.
According to a court affidavit, the school paraprofessional called the father to tell him she had "witnessed Donna Thomas become overly aggressive with the child."
The paraprofessional said in the affidavit, "There were two or three occasions when I saw her head-lock him … she pinned him. I'm like, what is she doing? I was even in shock."
Another witnesses in the affidavit described the restraint as a choke hold.
Police asked the witness if Thomas was aggravated during the time the alleged incident happened.
"Oh yeah," the witness said, according to the affidavit.
Police asked the witness if Thomas was angry at the same.
"Yeah," the witness replied.
http://www.ketv.com/r/22686608/detail.html
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