Cops: Student removed for cheating beat up teacher

A 14-year-old Uniondale High School student who was removed from class Tuesday for cheating on a final exam was arrested after he returned to the class and beat up his teacher, Nassau police said.

The male student was taken into custody by Nassau police and charged as a juvenile with second-degree assault. He was scheduled to appear in Family Court in Westbury Wednesday.

Jean Joseph Felix, 52, the teacher, was taken to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow for treatment of bruises to his head and upper body and cuts to his mouth.

The police juvenile aid bureau said the student was taking a test in a French class at about 9:40 a.m. when the teacher saw him cheating and told him to change his seat. He refused and the teacher called security. The student was escorted from the classroom, police said, but somehow, he was able to return a short time later and attack the teacher. The attack happened just outside the classroom door, Felix said.

Authorities declined to identify the student or the teacher, but Felix, recovering at his home, acknowledged that he was the victim of the assault.

"It happened very fast," Felix said. "It was so violent. . . . He came and hit the back of my head and neck many times," and once Felix fell to the ground, he said he was kicked and stomped repeatedly.

"I have to go for physical therapy now," Felix said. "My back. My whole head is swollen. My ear is swollen. It was real serious stuff."

Felix said he was upset that after the student was removed from the class, he was able somehow to leave supervision and return.

Earlier in the year, the student was doing relatively well in French, Felix said. Although he had not been doing all of his French schoolwork lately, "He wasn't going to fail the class, at all," Felix said. "He knew that he wasn't going to do well on the test. He wasn't going to get the grade he wanted."