NYC gym teacher claims 6-year-old student beat him up
At 5-foot-10 and 220 pounds, gym teacher John Webster is not a slight figure. But the former college football player claims a 50-pound, 6-year-old student physically assaulted him and sent him into therapy.
The New York Post reports that Webster fractured his ankle and injured his knee, all at the hands of 4-foot-2 Rodrigo Carpio. Walker says he now has to wear a brace on his right leg.
"It's sort of like an angel-devil sort of thing," Webster, 27, said of Rodrigo. The boy "looks like an angel, but then, all of a sudden, that halo turns into horns. It's been a nightmare. It's embarrassing. It's humiliating."
And there's reportedly more than just the incident with Webster. Rodrigo, a first-grader at PS 330 in Queens, also allegedly kicked the school principal and pinched several other individuals, including a school security officer.
Webster told the Post that the confrontation started when he was escorting several students to the school cafeteria.
"I tried to hold his wrists, and he began biting me,'' Webster said. "I took him to the principal's office, and he kicked me in the ankle, and one kick landed right on my knee. I felt a pop.''
Lawyer Andrew Siben, who is representing Webster, described Rodrigo as a "tiny terror."
"It's sad that teachers like Mr. Webster are not offered protection from someone who can endanger other teachers and students," Siben told the paper.
However, Rodrigo's parents say the allegations are ridiculous.
"The lawsuit is totally absurd," said the boy's father, Jorge Carpio, 44. "How could my little boy do so much damage?"
"This is a terrible thing to say [about] a child," said his mom, Josefa Marcia.