A Long Island woman and her 14-year-old niece were arrested after allegedly attacking a teacher in a Hempstead middle school's hallway. A surveillance photo shows teacher Catherine Engelhardt on the floor.
Annika McKenzie, 34, was charged with second-degree assault, as was her niece, who is being charged as a juvenile. McKenzie's lawyer told WABC 7 that Engelhardt "had 'put her hands on' McKenzie's 12-year-old daughter earlier in the day."
McKenzie reportedly "pushed" past security at Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School and confronted Engelhardt outside her classroom. When she spoke to Engelhardt, the teacher reportedly asked her to get a security pass. Hempstead Village police Chief Michael McGowan said, "The parent continued the conversation, got into an argument and then pushed the teacher against the wall, put her in a headlock and threw her to the hallway floor."
Then, as students gathered, McGowan said, "A juvenile female relative of the adult began to punch the teacher in the head." Other students also reportedly kicked and punched Engelhardt while she was on the ground.
Elias Mestizo, president of the Hempstead Classroom Teachers Association, told Newsday that the attack was captured by surveillance cameras and that Engelhardt was "unconscious for several minutes." Mestizo also criticized the school board for not listening to teachers' concerns: "He told the board at its meeting that a couple of teachers had been threatened with rape or death in other incidents and had not seen much of a response to complaints."
Engelhardt told WABC 7, "It’s not like I thought a parent would do something, but I knew something violent was going to happen... I’ve warned them time and again that the children have no respect for adults. Yes, I fear for my safety. They can’t control the kids."
