Capt. Larsen
02-18-2009, 09:12 PM
Wiggter teacher has neck broken by nigger stoodints (http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/02/teen_found_delinquent_for_brea.html)
Teen found delinquent for breaking Cleveland teacher's neck
CLEVELAND -- James Cappetto never saw the brass knuckles.
But in a Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court trial, the South High School business teacher testified that a student punched him with the weapon, fracturing his skull and breaking three vertebrae, as he shielded other students during a gang fight at the school.
"I don't think a bare fist would rip my skull off," said Cappetto, 59. "I didn't see that coming. I seen him coming toward me and that's the last thing I saw."
The 17-year-old student, who was expelled for a year, was found delinquent Friday of felonious assault and committing a criminal act on school property. Judge Kristin Sweeney will decide his punishment March 13.
Several other teenagers were placed on probation in October for their involvement in the melee, which also injured Principal Timothy Bigenho. The teens were ordered to serve community service.
Cappetto, a 32-year veteran of the district who lives in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood and had been injured in school fights before, remains on assault leave. He wore a neck brace Friday as he told his story.
Near the end of the school day on Jan. 8, 2008, he was trying to break up a gang fight that erupted over tensions left over from Christmas break, he said. He went into a second-floor classroom and huddled over several students when he was hit on the forehead.
For months, Cappetto didn't give police the name of his attacker because he wanted to protect student witnesses.
Defense attorney Michael Granito focused on the delay, as well as the fact Cappetto never saw the brass knuckles.
Prior to that day, though, Cappetto said the student wanted to show off his weapon.
"He was punching his fist, said, 'You gotta feel this. This is really neat,'" Cappetto said.
He told him to put them away. "We laughed it off... I said, 'You got enough power behind you... These are lethal.'"
Cappetto said he guessed that the boy was wearing brass knuckles, but never saw them.
Granito suggested Cappetto could have cracked his skull by falling to the floor.
Principal Bigenho also testified, saying the two rival gangs had issues over Christmas break.
"The most impersonal fights are gang fights after they start," Cappetto said. "This is just a part of school as we know it."
http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2008/01/medium_cappettojan24a.jpg
Wigger POS
Recalling a fight that may end a teaching career (http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2008/01/recalling_a_fight_that_may_end.html)
James Cappetto's body is straight and stiff beneath the neck brace as he reclines in a living room chair. Only his arms and facial muscles move when he talks about how he was attacked Jan. 8 at Cleveland's South High School.
He can walk, but any movement makes him feel as if "my head is going to blow up." He says the painkillers are all that keep him from wailing.
Cappetto's skull was fractured and three vertebrae were broken as he tried to break up a fight outside the computer lab where he was teaching. From what he remembers and has been told, it happened this way:
When a student asked for a bathroom pass, Cappetto checked out the hallway and saw more than a dozen kids. Some of them started boxing "as if they were following Marquis of Queensbury rules."
He yelled for security and tried to separate a football player whom he recognized from the fight. Another student guided them into a nearby classroom where it appeared they would be safe behind a closed door. But someone inside the classroom opened the door and at least one of the fighters burst in, sending a desk flying.
Cappetto, 58, ended up on the floor shielding the football player beneath him. He was beaten on the head and back, possibly with brass knuckles.
He doesn't know who hit him. No one has been charged by police. Six students have been suspended and recommended for expulsion, according to the district.
Cappetto thinks the instigators knew there would probably be no security in that hallway. He said the guard who used to patrol there left a month or two ago after being kicked by a girl while trying to break up a fight.
Cappetto was knocked down that time, too, and before that, he hurt his wrist and back breaking up another fight, he said.
Now, he's hoping someone will bring him his grade book so he can make sure it's updated and his students get all the credit they should.
He's been told he shouldn't expect to ever be back in a classroom -- he could be paralyzed with the slightest injury. He's still grappling with that because, after 32 years with the district, he loves the kids "and they reciprocate."
"I don't feel like I'm done," he said. "It's important for me to teach in the city I live in."
Teen found delinquent for breaking Cleveland teacher's neck
CLEVELAND -- James Cappetto never saw the brass knuckles.
But in a Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court trial, the South High School business teacher testified that a student punched him with the weapon, fracturing his skull and breaking three vertebrae, as he shielded other students during a gang fight at the school.
"I don't think a bare fist would rip my skull off," said Cappetto, 59. "I didn't see that coming. I seen him coming toward me and that's the last thing I saw."
The 17-year-old student, who was expelled for a year, was found delinquent Friday of felonious assault and committing a criminal act on school property. Judge Kristin Sweeney will decide his punishment March 13.
Several other teenagers were placed on probation in October for their involvement in the melee, which also injured Principal Timothy Bigenho. The teens were ordered to serve community service.
Cappetto, a 32-year veteran of the district who lives in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood and had been injured in school fights before, remains on assault leave. He wore a neck brace Friday as he told his story.
Near the end of the school day on Jan. 8, 2008, he was trying to break up a gang fight that erupted over tensions left over from Christmas break, he said. He went into a second-floor classroom and huddled over several students when he was hit on the forehead.
For months, Cappetto didn't give police the name of his attacker because he wanted to protect student witnesses.
Defense attorney Michael Granito focused on the delay, as well as the fact Cappetto never saw the brass knuckles.
Prior to that day, though, Cappetto said the student wanted to show off his weapon.
"He was punching his fist, said, 'You gotta feel this. This is really neat,'" Cappetto said.
He told him to put them away. "We laughed it off... I said, 'You got enough power behind you... These are lethal.'"
Cappetto said he guessed that the boy was wearing brass knuckles, but never saw them.
Granito suggested Cappetto could have cracked his skull by falling to the floor.
Principal Bigenho also testified, saying the two rival gangs had issues over Christmas break.
"The most impersonal fights are gang fights after they start," Cappetto said. "This is just a part of school as we know it."
http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2008/01/medium_cappettojan24a.jpg
Wigger POS
Recalling a fight that may end a teaching career (http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2008/01/recalling_a_fight_that_may_end.html)
James Cappetto's body is straight and stiff beneath the neck brace as he reclines in a living room chair. Only his arms and facial muscles move when he talks about how he was attacked Jan. 8 at Cleveland's South High School.
He can walk, but any movement makes him feel as if "my head is going to blow up." He says the painkillers are all that keep him from wailing.
Cappetto's skull was fractured and three vertebrae were broken as he tried to break up a fight outside the computer lab where he was teaching. From what he remembers and has been told, it happened this way:
When a student asked for a bathroom pass, Cappetto checked out the hallway and saw more than a dozen kids. Some of them started boxing "as if they were following Marquis of Queensbury rules."
He yelled for security and tried to separate a football player whom he recognized from the fight. Another student guided them into a nearby classroom where it appeared they would be safe behind a closed door. But someone inside the classroom opened the door and at least one of the fighters burst in, sending a desk flying.
Cappetto, 58, ended up on the floor shielding the football player beneath him. He was beaten on the head and back, possibly with brass knuckles.
He doesn't know who hit him. No one has been charged by police. Six students have been suspended and recommended for expulsion, according to the district.
Cappetto thinks the instigators knew there would probably be no security in that hallway. He said the guard who used to patrol there left a month or two ago after being kicked by a girl while trying to break up a fight.
Cappetto was knocked down that time, too, and before that, he hurt his wrist and back breaking up another fight, he said.
Now, he's hoping someone will bring him his grade book so he can make sure it's updated and his students get all the credit they should.
He's been told he shouldn't expect to ever be back in a classroom -- he could be paralyzed with the slightest injury. He's still grappling with that because, after 32 years with the district, he loves the kids "and they reciprocate."
"I don't feel like I'm done," he said. "It's important for me to teach in the city I live in."