Student Accused Of Beating Manhattan School Principal
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Students are divided after their classmate was accused of beating up their principal.
CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reports Luis Penzo, an 18-year-old student at the Manhattan Early College for Advertising, was arraigned Tuesday on assault charges in the alleged beating of Matthew Tossman, the school's principal.
The incident happened Monday at the school inside Murry Bergtraum High School in lower Manhattan.
Police said Tossman asked Penzo to turn down the volume of his headphones. When Penzo refused, Tossman tried to pick up the headphones, which were on the ground, according to a Department of Education spokesperson.
According to police, that's when Penzo pummeled Tossman, causing swelling in his face and cuts around his eyes.
Penzo's friends are defending his actions.
"Luis is quiet. He keeps to himself," said Ijanae Caballero. "Like I expect if you touch someone and break someone's stuff, I mean, that would've been a good reaction for me."
"You're not supposed to put hands on a student. No, none of that. You're not supposed to do any of that. That's prohibited," said Christiana Olagunju. "So for you to do that, you get what you get."
CBS2's Sanchez tried to speak with Tossman at his home, but his wife declined to answer questions.
"Hi, Hazel, we have no comment at this time. Thank you, though," Tossman's wife said.
Schools chancellor Carmen Farina said the city is taking the incident very seriously.
"Anytime anyone is hurt in our schools, a child or an adult, it's a cause for concern, so going back and reviewing what happened is important.
Penzo's attorney asked the judge for leniency because the student's mother recently passed away.
Penzo is being held on $5,000 bail.
