A Richmond County school safety officer was fired Tuesday over what officials say was a physical confrontation with a 14-year-old during a Sept. 11 football game at the Academy of Richmond County.
An investigation involving former officer James Holmon found that he had used excessive force. Several school officials say they saw Mr. Holmon confront the teen, throw him to the ground, place his hands around his neck and tell him several times "I will kill you," according to his termination letter.
The game involved T.W. Josey High School and ARC.
Mr. Holmon had been placed on administrative leave during the investigation.
It isn't the first time he has been under investigation. In March 2008, Mr. Holmon was cleared of a mother's accusation that he stole $10 while frisking her son for weapons at a Josey basketball game, according to Augusta Chronicle archives. That accusation was ruled unfounded.
The termination letter released Tuesday says Mr. Holmon was "out of control" and had to be physically restrained by other school safety officers at ARC.
"This altercation drew a crowd of curious onlookers and required the intervention of a number of school safety officers to restrain you, restore order and enable the crowd to complete their exit from the stadium," the letter says, adding that a review of video attached to Mr. Holmon's uniform showed the altercation.
The letter says Mr. Holmon is seen in the video approaching the teen "and inquiring if the young male had a problem." It also says the incident was initiated when some fans began yelling "rent a cop." The 14-year-old, however, told authorities he wasn't among those chanting.
When approached by Mr. Holmon, the teen reportedly responded with a curse word, asking to whom he was talking, and told the officer that he would punch him in the face. The teen later said he didn't remember saying he would punch the officer and that he cursed only after being held by the neck.
The officer reportedly forced the teen to the ground, placed his hand around the teen's throat and made several verbal threats, including: "I'm not your daddy, boy. I will kill you right here."
The boy reportedly responded, saying "I can't breathe."
"That's my point, I will kill you right here boy," the termination letter quotes the officer.
Mr. Holmon said in a statement he filed with the school system that the incident occurred as he was asking people to leave after the game. He said the teen said he didn't have to leave and used a curse word.
Mr. Holmon said he then put his hand on the teen's shoulder and that the teen began to ball up his hand in a fist "as if he was going to hit me. ... That's when I punched him away from me and he went to the ground, and I went down with him and restrained him by his lower neck area."
Schools spokesman Louis Svehla said Tuesday the school system is preparing more information for release, including the video, and that Superintendent Dana Bedden would call a news conference at a later date.
Reach Preston Sparks at (706) 828-3851 or preston.sparks@augustachronicle.com.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
This is what happens when junior thugs are taught to disrespect law enforcement by their parents or parent.
That's when I punched him away from me and he went to the ground, and I went down with him and restrained him by his lower neck area."
I usually stand behind law enforcement 100% but in all of my military training and in college majoring in criminal justice, I have never seen restraining by the lower neck area.
A Lark hire. Done as a favor to a board member. Make the rest of the other officers look bad. But "killa ketcha" is going straighten that place up!!! Hope the media asks for "ALL" the video running of the situation.
While we quoting : The boy reportedly responded, saying "I can't breathe."
"That's my point, I will kill you right here boy," the termination letter quotes the officer.
You don't see stuff this good on tv.
The video is there. It was shown to the officers. Like I said, I hope the media ask for all of the video including other officers and supervisors.
The kid doesn't remember cursing or threatening the cop - of course not........ makes for a better lawsuit. But noticably missing from this and all other articles is the mention of race so I can assume they were one in the same. Had this been a different combination, we would have Al Sharpton pasted all over the nightly news. This situation involves a disrespectful kid and an unprofessional law enforcement officer - the later has lost his job while the kid's inappropriate behavior will get ignored and he'll probably walk away with a check from the county.
josey and arc..the schools sez it all....what the officer was supposed to do was beg and plead for the 14 year old jr. thug to "move along"..of course now the jr. thug will get a lawyer and claim long term physical harm done by being thrown to the ground, and of course his mom lysterine will come out of the wood work claiming her son was an honor roll student whose life was forever harmed by the incident and look to get a check also. when i was young we were taught to respect and obey the law, now a days it is a right of passage to show contempt and total disrepect for the law
Who doesn't know what happened here? The boy needs to be kicked to the curb
No matter what happened, how disrespectful the young boy was, there was no call for a physical attack by the security officer.
the officer needs to be prosecuted for assault who's going to respect them when they act like thugs
Why did you delete my post ? No violations as I see it. Could it be because I spoke the truth???????
I used to work at a school with Officer Holmon. The kids loved him and I felt much safer when he was around. Some of these teenage boys think it's ok to disrespect the law and anyone else. He made us (teachers, students, parents and any kids) feel safe during the school day or at an after school event. I'd bet money that the "thug" gave as good as he got and deserved it.
Martinez, I love how you and your ILK complain about Al and then attempt to bring him into a situation. If Al responded to every incident that involved Blacks, he would be in the media every day. You are the one attempting to bring race into this matter.
The boy reportedly responded, saying "I can't breathe."
"That's my point, I will kill you right here boy," the termination letter quotes the officer.This altercation drew a crowd of curious onlookers and required the intervention of a number of school safety officers to restrain you....... This guy was a walking time bomb. He lost his temper, he does not need to be in law enforcement. He is a liability!
The first rule about being a race pimp is you cannot have a real job
Ban all activities where large groups of unruly kids gather....end of problem.
First of all, ispy4u, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are media whores. But even media whores have a threshold. Unless it is a CNN, Fox News, or equivalent level issue, they won't waste their time. They MAY send their generals, but they won't show up because the cameras aren't big enough. Lastly, this is why I think that County School Boards should not be in the Law Enforcement business. They should be in the Education business. That being said, everyone should understand that these people are NOT rent-a-cops. They have all been through the Law Enforcement training in Forsyth. I just think that the Boards should fund City/County personnel to be placed within the school system. That way, they would have the same uniform, and not be "confused" by idiots who think they are only security guards.
Bad move officer. That's why the Board of Education should supply funding to the sheriff's office for deputies in the schools.
If parents do'nt want kids to listen to the President they are not going to listen to a police officer, teacher, grown up, etc.....
Again, no one said anything about race or implied race prior to that post by Martinez.
Just another fact and action to support the fall of Richmond County.
ispy, good posts. The racists on this board bring in race along with Al Sharpton and JJ. They scream that they are racists because they aren't involved because it is 2 blacks. Follow that logic. So if Al and JJ don't get involved they are racists. So let me get this straight if Al and JJ get involved they are media whores/racists and if they don't get involved they are racists because they should be. GEEZ
Examines bait, does not bite!
lol.....
USSOCOM, sounds like you are in the military, your comparison would be like saying mercenaries should be doing your job. The School Resource Officers go through the same exact police academy as deputies. Many were deputies. Most have received additional training that deputies don't have that makes them better suited to work in the schools. The officer involved had open heart surgery a little over a year ago. It very well may be a combination of that life changing event and the vast amount of medication that he is on that created this unusual set of circumstances. It should be looked into. The said thing is man, a parent lost his job and due to all the publicity may have a hard time finding another. Being a police officer is a trying job, it gets harder by the day. We are ridiculed constantly for doing our jobs and if he had done nothing he would have been scrutinized also.
The kid confronts a cop with "Who the F#$%@ you talking to?" and threatens to punch him and the COP is the bad guy? Holding him by the neck was a bit much and he shouldn't have threatened him, but where's the charge against the kid for obstruction or simple asault? If there's video, isn't there video of the whole incident?
For all of you advocating the idea that the kid got what he deserved; I know for a fact your comments would be different if the kid had been your child. The security person's reactions were extreme and he deserved to be fired. I don't want a person who can goes off like this around my child. Sure there are smart mouth children in the world, but there are also hot tempered security personnel in the world! And why aren’t you saying disparaging things about parents. It can be also said that the parents of the security person didn’t do such a great job of raising him either.
For all of you advocating the idea that the kid got what he deserved; I know for a fact your comments would be different if the kid had been your child. WRONG WRONG. If any one of my 5 sons was to pull a stunt like this, he would think that what the cop gave him would have been a kiss compared to what I would have given him!
Come on, we want people to protect but when they use whatever force they have to they want to complain. You can't have it both ways. I don't know how many of you have ever been in a scuffle or saw a 14 year out of control but it's not like you can pat them on the butt and tell them to sit down. These kids are strong and if they were out of control by all means do what it takes to gain back respect and ordinance.
I am sure his parents, blamed the officer, for their child's actions.
I agree the Officer should be fired but if the boy is on video tape doing those things he should be charged also.
Colbalt...part of the problem is these kids don't have a Daddy at home that will tear them a new one if they ever acted like that.