A Taunton, Massachusetts, school crossing guard was fired Monday after being accused of repeatedly hitting a woman and her child with a stop sign stick during an altercation outside the high school. Louis Chaves, 68, of Taunton, was charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, the stop sign baton, and one count of battery and injuries with a dangerous weapon, a shoed foot. Prosecutors say the incident involved a parent in a vehicle on Williams Street outside Taunton High School. The woman said she stopped at the intersection when she sneezed and was trying to find a tissue. The crossing guard, later identified as Chaves, began yelling at him to keep driving. “He was yelling at her while her child was in the vehicle. The crossing guard then placed the stop signal stick through the passenger window and began swinging it around the car, insulting him and telling him that “She had to get out of there.” The prosecutor said. “The defendant was swinging the stick from the stop sign in the vehicle and he hit the girl in the arm.” with the stick when the woman got out of the car to confront him, police said he threw her to the ground “when the relative got out of the vehicle and confronted the defendant about the. assault, that’s when the defendant began attacking her with a stop sign stick, eventually knocking her to the ground,” the prosecutor said. “(She) stated that, then while she was on the ground, she had been dragged and punched several times by the accused. She had multiple abrasions and lacerations on her arm.” Chaves was released after the arraignment and will return to court in August. 8. As Chaves was leaving court, he lunged at the cameras while a woman begged him and tried to restrain him, he is then seen on camera kicking a photographer, hitting another photographer and throwing a stick “Taunton Public Schools is aware of a physical altercation this morning (. June 3) involving a crossing guard,” Taunton Public Schools said in a statement. As a result of the incident, “the crossing guard has been terminated, effective immediately, and is no longer an employee of the public schools of Taunton.” The woman was taken to Morton Hospital with cuts and abrasions.
A Taunton, Massachusetts, school crossing guard was fired Monday after being accused of repeatedly hitting a woman and her child with a stop sign stick during an altercation outside the high school.
Louis Chaves, 68, of Taunton, was charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, the stop sign baton, and one count of battery and injuries with a dangerous weapon, a shoed foot.
Prosecutors say the incident involved a parent in a vehicle on Williams Street outside Taunton High School. The woman said she stopped at the intersection when she sneezed and was trying to find a tissue. The crossing guard, later identified as Chaves, began yelling at him to keep driving.
“He was yelling at her while her child was in the vehicle. The crossing guard then placed the stop signal stick through the passenger window and began swinging it around the car, insulting him and telling him that “She had to get out of there.” The prosecutor said. “The defendant was swinging the stick from the stop sign into the vehicle and he hit the girl in the arm.”
Police say Chaves hit her child in the arm with the stick. When the woman got out of the car to confront him, police said he threw her to the ground.
“When the parent exited the vehicle and confronted the defendant about the assault, that’s when the defendant began attacking her with a stop sign stick, throwing her finally on the ground,” the prosecutor said. “(She) stated that while she was on the ground, she was dragged and punched several times by the defendant. She had multiple abrasions and lacerations to her arm.”
Chaves was released after the arraignment and will return to court in August. 8.
As Chaves left the court, he lunged at the cameras as a woman pleaded with him and tried to hold him back. He is then seen on camera kicking a photographer, punching another photographer and throwing a stick.
“Taunton Public Schools is aware of a physical altercation this morning (June 3) involving a crossing guard,” Taunton Public Schools said in a statement. As a result of the incident, “the crossing guard has been terminated, effective immediately, and is no longer an employee of Taunton Public Schools.”
The woman was taken to Morton Hospital with cuts and abrasions.