Florida Teacher Accused of Violent Classroom Incident With Special Needs Student

MIAMI, FL - A teacher has been accused of "forcefully slamming" an eight-year-old student with autism to the floor, although he showed no aggression.

The teacher, 29-year-old Nikol Marie Rodriguez, has been charged with one count of child abuse without great bodily harm. According to a probable cause arrest affidavit reviewed by Law & Crime, the incident occurred on March 3 at Peace Christian Academy.

Rodriguez has been overseeing the students at the school since the beginning of the 2024 school year. The student is able to comprehend simple instructions but has trouble articulating his needs, according to authorities.

The alleged incident was captured on a surveillance camera, which police acquired after issuing a subpoena. The complaint states that the teacher was with the victim and two other students in the classroom.

The victim was sitting on the floor and not facing in the correct direction, so Rodriguez spun him in an "aggressive manner," police wrote.

A few minutes later, the student moved to a bean bag and sat down. "While the CCTV did not provide audio, the victim was not in any way displaying physically threatening behavior," cops wrote. "The victim was simply sitting in place."

Rodriguez went behind the boy and allegedly pulled his hands behind his back. The boy tried to escape the teacher's grasp and appeared to be "in agony," police said. Rodriguez began struggling with the victim and was allegedly "seen forcefully slamming the victim's upper body and head onto the classroom floor."

She also allegedly "forcefully pressed" the boy into a supine position as he was kicking his legs, police wrote. She then allegedly pinned the student's arm to the ground with her leg.

Eventually, Rodriguez let the boy go but allegedly shoved him into the table when he tried to get up. The boy's mother noticed injuries when she was giving him a bath.

He allegedly had a small puncture wound on his right bicep as well as "finger bruise marks" on his left arm and scratches on his chest.

An internal report by the school, which police obtained, said Rodriguez was using "supportive de-escalation procedures" because of the boy's "escalating behavior," according to the complaint.

During her bond hearing, Rodriguez's attorney made a similar statement. "It is a child that was acting out, and she was in the process of restraining [the child]," he said. Police arrested Rodriguez, and she was booked into jail, where she has since posted a $5,000 bond.