A Michigan high school coach was caught on camera sneaking up behind a 14-year-old student and strangling him with a shirt, causing the teen to double over and lose color in his face.
Shocking surveillance footage from Ypsilanti High School shows the unidentified coach stalking the teen as he walked down a hallway last week and wrapping a shirt around his hands and wrists as he approaches the boy.
He then proceeds to wrap the shirt around the boy’s neck, forcing the victim to bend over and lose color from his face as he struggled to tear the shirt off his neck.
Finally, after about 20 seconds, the teenager manages to free himself and pushes the coach while other teachers could be seen entering the frame.
The family of the teenager, Michael Moon, says he suffered neck injuries as a result of the attack and has since refused to return to school.
An unidentified coach was captured on surveillance footage choking a 14-year-old student at Ypsilanti High School last week.
The incident reportedly began after an argument between the teenager and the coach on June 4.
Michael told his parents that the coach, who also served as a hall monitor at the school, saw him joking in the hallway and ordered him to do push-ups. he told ABC 7.
But Michael had a hand injury and tried to explain to the trainer that he couldn’t do sit-ups. He was then seen on surveillance footage walking past the coach, who was sitting in a chair.
After about 10 seconds, the coach also stood up, apparently signaling to another teacher that he would be right back, as he began to follow Moon down the hallway.
Moon would later file a police report against the coach and the local police department provided his parents with a copy of the video.
The incident reportedly began after the trainer ordered the teen to do push-ups and he walked away.
The coach followed the teen down a hallway and wrapped a T-shirt around his hands as he approached the boy.
Both Moon’s parents, Steve Moon and Yolanda Ellis, said they were immediately shocked and angry by what they saw in the images.
“I’m outraged that someone would come after a 14-year-old boy and proceed to strangle him,” Ellis said Fox 2 Detroit.
They now expect the coach to face charges for the assault and argue that other teachers who were nearby should also be disciplined for not intervening in time.
“It made me lose trust in the school system,” Ellis told ABC 7.
“It also made me lose trust in the coach because he was someone Michael looked up to.”
Since the attack, she said, her son has refused to return to school and no one from Ypsilanti High School or Community Schools has stopped by to check on him.
“We recently got Mike socialized and worked on his interpersonal skills,” he said.
“Since the incident, he hasn’t been outside,” Ellis said. “He didn’t want to go back and finish his school days.”
The teen’s family said the boy was injured in the attack and is now traumatized.
An attorney representing the family now plans to send the school district a notice of litigation over school officials’ failure to intervene in the assault.
“In that video, there should have been other people running and stopping the assault,” attorney Jordan Vahdat told Fox 2. “I didn’t see that happen.”
He said he will also conduct his own investigation into the incident, as well as any prior issues the coach had with other students that district officials should have been aware of.
But first, he said, he would like to sit down with district officials to discuss the incident.
‘Number one is accountability, the school needs to do something to fix it.
“Now trauma has been inflicted on him and if it’s something he’s going to have to get through…he should be looking forward to summer.”
It is now unclear whether Moon will return to high school next year.
“What I want to do is make sure Mike is safe, first of all, when he goes back to school,” Ellis said.
“Also, get him the help he needs.”
Ypsilanti Community School District officials said the coach has since been fired.
In a statement to ABC 7, Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross said the coach has been terminated from his position at the school “and is not permitted to enter school property or attend school activities.” “.
“Our district is dedicated to creating a safe and supportive environment for all students,” he said.
“The employee’s actions are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our district.”
School officials also sent a letter to parents Monday, addressing a “serious incident” involving an employee.
The letter does not mention any assault or the nature of the incident, but says district officials “immediately” contacted social services and began cooperating with a police investigation.
“We are committed to cooperating fully with the authorities involved,” the letter said.
“Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation and the involvement of a student, we are unable to provide specific details.”
The coach has not yet been charged with any crime.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office and Ypsilanti Community Schools for comment.
