Student Shown Being Grabbed By His Neck By Teacher Speaks Out

LYNWOOD (CBSLA)  --  A high school student who was captured on cellphone video being grabbed by his neck by one of his teachers is speaking out.

The incident played out at Lynwood High School where CBS2/KCAL9 reporter Dave Lopez says that teacher has been placed on administrative leave.

Lopez spoke to the student at the center of the controversy on Wednesday.

The teacher said he was simply trying to keep two students apart after they had gotten into an altercation.

An attorney for the student said she took a copy of the video to the LA County Sheriff's Department. The department is conducting an investigation to decide whether or not charges should be filed.

Lopez said the student in question "is a good student, an honors student." The student is also a member of the football team. His mother, meanwhile, last year was voted the School Volunteer of the Year by the PTA.

The incident played out around 9 a.m. in Andrew Boyd's history class at Lynwood High School.

The video purports to show 15-year-old being put in a choke hold by 53-year-old teacher David Williams.

Boyd insists there was no fight prior to his being grabbed by the teacher.

"No, there was no fight," he says, "Never."

Lopez asks, "Did the teacher say anything to you?"

"No," Boyd says, "He didn't say anything to me at all. He just grabbed me because I was the closest person to his desk."

According to Boyd, he had been having trouble with another male classmate. He says they often get into it verbally and they had done so on that day.

Boys said the other student was yelling at him and that Boyd got up and that's when the teacher grabbed him.

"He grabbed me hard," Boyd says. While he was being choked he said he had trouble breathing.

Lopez asked him if he ever felt like hitting the teacher?

"No," he said, "cause I know what type of person I am. The way I was brought up was not to put my hands on a teacher or anything like that."

His mother concurred.

"I worry about his safety. And whether he will be able to focus," says Willette Jones. "And be able to be successful."

She still gets emotional while recounting the incident.

A deeply religious woman, she asked a prayer group for guidance on what she should do.

Someone in the group said, you need a lawyer.

"The first thing we have to do is figure out how we can get multiple school districts to cooperate with each other," said attorney Michelle Dobson. "Because if Lynwood High School is not the best environment for not just Andrew but for his younger brother Adrian -- who is right behind him -- we have to get Lynwood to release them and then we have to get another high school to take them."

According to Dobson, Williams allegedly told the principal he never touched Andrew.

There was no on-camera interview with the Lynwood Unified School District but they issued the following statement:

"The Lynwood Unified School District does not condone physical violence in any form and takes this matter very seriously. We are fully committed to ensuring all of our schools are safe and secure learning environments for our students, families, and staff."