A North Pulaski High School teacher was arrested and charged with aggravated assault Friday morning after he purportedly choked and hit a teenage boy last week in the school’s cafeteria.
Michael Dean, 51, of Sherwood turned himself in to Jacksonville police at 8:40 a.m. after a warrant for his arrest was issued Wednesday.
He appeared before Jacksonville District Court Judge Robert Batton, who released Dean on his own recognizance.
Dean is currently suspended with pay from his position at North Pulaski High School, Pulaski County Special School District spokesman Deborah Roush said.
The incident has been turned over to the Jacksonville Police Department, but the school district is conducting a separate investigation.
“As things continue to evolve, our investigation will continue,” Roush said.
Dean teaches American History and Economics in addition to being the high school’s baseball coach.
On Aug. 26, officers responded about 12:45 p.m. to the school, located at 718 Harris Road. The principal, Jeffery Senn, told officers that a security camera had recorded a teacher choking a 17-year-old boy in the cafeteria, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
The student told police that he mouthed a curse word to Dean, then the teacher elbowed and choked him, according to the incident report.
Dean told police that he "bumped" into the student to “get his attention” after being cursed at, and that the student punched at him and pulled Dean's arm around his neck. However, police said a review of the surveillance video corroborated the student's story, the report states.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more on this story.