A 12-year-old student and his mother are suing the Putnam/Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) in Yorktown after the boy's arm was broken during a disciplinary action, the family's lawyer Thomas Cascione told Patch.
The lawsuit, which was filed with the New York State Supreme Court this week by Tarrytown resident Annie Thigpen and her son Timothy, claims two school aids twisted the student's arm and broke it.
Cascione said the incident occurred last June at the Walden School while Timothy Thigpen was in a classroom. He had gotten into a verbal dispute and when he was told he was going to be taken to another room to cool off, he refused to go. That's when two school aids grabbed him, put his down on a carpet, and twisted and broke his arm, Cascione said.
"They wanted to show him who is boss," he said. "It went too far."
Cascione said the boy did not demonstrate any violence before being held down by the two school aids and had not made any threats.
The Walden School is a place for students with emotional problems and students who need "a significant amount of counseling in a therapeutic environment to achieve academic success," according to BOCES' description on its district website.
Cascione told Patch that police had investigated the incident when it occurred last year, but that no charges were filed.
He said the 12-year-old student is still enrolled in school and the two aids, to his knowledge, are still working at BOCES.
Ellen Lane, spokesperson for BOCES, said officials are aware of the lawsuit but they cannot comment on pending litigation.
