Assistant principal, teacher arrested after student put in chokehold, deputies say

An assistant principal and a teacher at a Hillsborough County middle school were arrested after the teacher placed a student in a chokehold earlier this year and the assistant principal failed to report the incident to authorities, deputies say.

On Jan. 18, Progress Village Middle School teacher Bennie Leverett put a student in a chokehold, “restricting the student’s ability to breathe before eventually releasing the hold,” the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Friday.

The school’s assistant principal, Tashiska Fabian, met with Leverett and the student after the incident but did not report it to the child abuse hotline or law enforcement, the news release states. Fabian also learned that a student had captured the incident on video, and she told the student to delete the footage, deputies say.

The deleted video was later recovered by detectives.

On Feb. 16, the sheriff’s office responded to the school with the Department of Children and Families, and Leverett was arrested March 14.

“Following a detailed investigation, detectives determined Fabian failed to report this incident and issued a warrant for her arrest,” the news release states. She was arrested Wednesday.

“It is deeply troubling that a teacher would harm a student, but even more so when a person in a position of authority fails to do the right thing and report the crime,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in the news release.

A spokesperson for Hillsborough County Public Schools said Leverett, 39, and Fabian, 41, were removed from duty in February after the school district learned of the allegations.

Leverett never returned to the school, and he resigned from the district in March, spokesperson Tanya Arja said. Fabian was not allowed to return to the school and was terminated.

“Neither one of these individuals has been on our campus since last February and it does not involve any current district employee,” Arja wrote in an email. “The safety of our students and staff is our top priority.”

Leverett is charged with one count of child abuse, a third-degree felony. Records show he was released from the Hillsborough County jail after posting a $5,000 bond on March 14. He has pleaded not guilty through an attorney.

Fabian is facing one count of failure to report child abuse, a third-degree felony. Records show she was released from the Hillsborough County jail Wednesday after posting a $2,500 bond.