School Wants Teen Charged with Assault for Tossing Baby Carrot at Teacher
Assault with a carrot
A 14-year-old girl was suspended from school for a month and faces possible assault and battery charges for playfully throwing a baby carrot at one of her former teachers.
The speeding salad staple hit the teacher's forehead—but that wasn't the girl's intention, she said. Rather, she was just trying to get the teacher's attention.
According to WTVR, Aliya May threw the vitamin-packed projectile at her teacher when she passed her in the hall at Moody Middle School in Henrico County, Virginia:
"I don't even know how to combat the stupidity," Karrie May, whose 14-year-old daughter Aliya is currently suspended for launching the vegetable, said. May said her daughter has been out of school for a month.
"I don't understand this," May said. "Yes, it happened, and I can see a couple of days in school detention or even a couple days out-of-school suspension. But this goes way beyond that. We have to go to court, and her charges aren't small: assault and battery with a weapon." …
"If it's a soft carrot, it may not be as offensive," said CBS 6 legal expert Todd Stone. "But if it's a raw carrot, you don't have to have an injury or show you were hurt to prove a battery. It just has to be an offensive, vindictive touch. That's what the law says."
Alas, it was not a soft carrot. And so, in the school's view, the carrot is a weapon, and was used to commit assault and battery.
While the school refused to comment on the case, Aliya's mom told the TV station that the school's disciplinary review board had asked Aliya to admit her guilt, but the girl declined. Says CBS 6, "Now mom said they await a summons to see what happens next."
Aliya could be in for a root awakening. She's missing a lot of school in the meantime.