School officer on leave after slamming student, 12

SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio school district is investigating the possible excessive use of force by a school officer after a video was posted online purporting to show the officer slamming a 12-year-old student to the ground.

The incident happened March 29 outside of Rhodes Middle School. San Antonio Independent School District learned about the video Tuesday. The district put the officer on paid administrative leave Wednesday.

Gloria Valdez, the mother of the sixth-grade student, said the way the officer handled her daughter was completely uncalled for.

"I'm mad, upset, hurt," said Valdez. "I never thought that would happen to her."

The video shows the officer, whom the San Antonio Express-News identified as Officer Joshua Kehm, grab the girl and throw her to the ground.

“Supposedly he was threatened by her that she kicked him. But in the video her legs never went up,” Valdez said.

Valdez's daughter did not want to go on camera but she said she was having a conversation with another girl when a crowd surrounded them. She says that’s when the officer put his hands on her.

“All he had to is grab her and put her to the side,” Valdez said.

According to the San Antonio Independent School District, the officer has worked there for just more than a year.

“That video is alarming,” said Leslie Price, a spokeswoman for the school district. “We are gathering all the information we can to see what led up to it.”

Valdez admits her daughter has gotten into fights before.

She said the force was so powerful, it knocked her daughter out.

“She was, I guess, unconscious. She doesn’t remember being arrested with handcuffs,” Valdez said. “(She’s) bruised because of how she was hit on the cement.”

According to the San Antonio Express-News, Valdez said her daughter was suspended for two days.

This is not the first time video has captured a school officer using what some considered excessive force while dealing with a student.

In October, a South Carolina school resource officer was terminated after an investigation showed he used improper techniques in an attempt to restrain a student.

Video showed Deputy Ben Fields grab the student as she was in her seat, causing the girl and the chair to flip over onto the floor. Fields can then be seen dragging the girl for several feet and restraining her on the ground.

Valdez just hopes something good will come out of this.

“I just want justice for my daughter,” Valdez said. “How do we know this officer won’t do it again to another student?”

Contributing: WLTX-TV, Columbia, S.C. Follow Roma Villavicencio on Twitter: @RomaKENS5