An elderly substitute teacher at a College Point middle school was arrested Thursday afternoon, Dec. 8, after he allegedly assaulted a 12-year-old student during a verbal dispute.
Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing were called to MS 379, housed in the College Point Collaborative Educational Building located at 124-06 14th Ave., where they took 77-year-old Vernon Jerom into custody for allegedly grabbing the schoolboy by the throat during an argument, police said.
Jerom allegedly had his hands on the student’s neck for approximately five seconds. The student was not hurt and refused medical attention, police said. Jerom was suspended immediately by the city’s Department of Education (DOE).
“These allegations are very disturbing, and this substitute teacher was immediately suspended from service,” DOE spokesman Nathaniel Styer said.
Jerom was booked in the 109th Precinct and charged with criminal obstruction of breathing and acting in a manner injurious to a child, according to the NYPD.
