Teacher suspended after bus incident

Patterson High School teacher and coach Brandon Harden is suspended from his job pending an investigation into what Harden called “consensual horseplay” with a basketball player on a school bus Saturday on the way back to Patterson from a game in Brusly.

The student, Dajon Richard, told The Daily Review that Harden choked him until he had trouble breathing.

“Right now, there’s an investigation of the incident that occurred on the bus coming home from a Patterson basketball game in Brusly,” said St. Mary Parish Schools Superintendent Leonard Armato.

“At the moment he’s (Harden) not at Patterson High School while they’re doing the investigation. He’s suspended pending investigation.”

The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office received a call at 9:28 p.m. Saturday about a disturbance and responded to Patterson High School, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Lt. Detective Traci Landry.

Landry said the complaint is under investigation and no details are being released at this time.

A camera aboard the bus captured the incident, said Richard’s mother, Sherneeka Richard-Phillips. The family viewed the bus video at the sheriff’s office Monday in Morgan City.

On the trip back to Patterson after Saturday’s game, a player threw some pennies and a small rock in Harden’s direction, Dajon Richard said. Harden mistakenly believed Richard was responsible.

Another player confessed to throwing the objects, said Richard’s father, Tarrike Phillips.

Richard said that later, still on the trip home, Harden told him he was coming back to his seat.

Richard said Harden told him: “’Dajon, you’re about to make me come back there.’ And when he came back there, I ducked down, and he pulled me up and started choking me.”

Richard said Harden choked him more than once. And Richard’s head hit the floor in the aisle at one point, the student said.

“When he said he was coming back there, at first I was joking and leaned down in the seat,” Richard said. “Then he pulled me. And I pushed him off me, then he got me again.

“I got serious when he dumped me over, flipped me over the seat and I hit my head on the ground.”

It occurred between the seats.

“He jumped on me and he choked me …,” Richard said. “I was like, ‘Stop choking me because I can’t breathe.’ Then he tried to pick me up.

“So he started leaning back and I couldn’t breathe after that. So I started tapping out, telling him to stop. Then he let me go and got me again. I said, ‘I can’t breathe.’”

“Tapping out” is a signal of surrender.

“I pulled him off me because it was hurting,” Richard said. “He said, ‘You better tap out, you better tap out or I’m not going to let you go.’ So, I was tapping out. And he let me go but he grabbed me again.”

Some students recorded the incident on their phones. Richard said Harden told students on the bus after the incident to delete the video. And Richard replied “No, don’t delete it.”

One of the students put one of the videos on Snapchat.

Brandon Harden characterized his behavior on the bus with Richard as “consensual horseplay.”

“I’ve been knowing this kid since he was 7 years old,” Harden said. “Like I said, it was consensual horseplay. I was just kind of cutting up. That’s my fault.

“I’ve got to use more wisdom as a school board employee. And I trust the leadership of our school board to make whatever decisions possible. I just trust them to make the right choice.”

The situation was blown out of proportion, Harden said.

“I’m sure they’ll talk to the kids and the kids will tell them what actually happened,” Harden said. “You know, we were kind of horse-playing and it got blown out of proportion. There was no vicious intent, is what I’m saying.”