HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office arrested a vice principal and teacher in connection to a child abuse investigation at Progress Village Middle School.
HCSO shared a video from Jan. 18, 2024, showing a teacher, Bennie Leverett, 39, putting a student in a chokehold before eventually releasing the hold. Officials said the school's vice principal, Tashiska Fabian, 41, met with Leverett and the student after becoming aware of the incident. Still, Fabian did not report the incident to authorities.
According to HCSO, Fabian also learned that another student recorded the incident and instructed that student to delete the footage. The video was deleted, but detectives later recovered it.
On Feb. 16, 2024, HCSO and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) went to the school to investigate, and Leverett was arrested on March 14.
Further investigation revealed Fabian's role in the incident, and a warrant was issued for her arrest. HCSO arrested Fabian on Sept. 4.
"I felt like it was really strong-arm robbery."
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