Cellphone Video Shows Police Beating of Unarmed Student

A cellphone video, obtained and posted by the San Jose Mercury News late Saturday shows police officers repeatedly hitting an unarmed university student with batons and a Taser gun. The video has prompted a criminal investigation into the officers' conduct.

The video was taken during the incident by one of the student's roommates, Dimitri Masouris, without the knowledge of the police. The student, Phuong Ho, a 20-year-old math major, faces pending misdemeanor charges of exhibiting a deadly weapon and resisting arrest. While Ho admits picking up a knife as he argued with a roommate that evening, he was not armed when police arrived. The San Jose Mercury-News obtained the video last week from Ho's lawyers.

The video, though shaky and grainy as the San Jose Mercury-News admits, shows one officer hitting the 20-year-old student with a metal baton more than 10 times, including once while he is already handcuffed. Another officer apparently uses his Taser on Ho.

The San Jose Mercury-News showed the video to Daniel Katz, San Jose's assistant police chief. The police department is taking the matter very seriously, he said. The paper showed the video to other analysts as well.

Regarding the baton strike after Ho is handcuffed, Roger Clark, a certified policing expert and a retired lieutenant with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, where he served for 27 years, said "That's a felony."

Frank Jordan, former San Francisco police chief as well as former mayor said, "Once he is handcuffed, then he is helpless. If you can show that his hands are behind his back, and he is handcuffed, that is where you get brutality. That would be excessive force."

After the incident, the police report said, Ho was treated for a Taser burn as well as receiving staples to close several wounds, including a blow to his head.

Teacher Stabbed to Death at Tyler, TX High School

Todd R. Henry, a music therapist for special needs students at John Tyler High School, was stabbed by a student earlier this morning. He later died, and the student has been taken into custody.

John Tyler High School serves grades 9-12 in the Tyler Independent School District. It has received a GreatSchools Rating of 3 out of 10, based on its state test results.

Todd R. Henry was stabbed around 8:50 AM, according to a statement on the Tyler Independent School District website. At the time of the incident, one teacher, one paraprofessional, and three students were in the classroom.

Although a student is in custody, his name has not been released. John Tyler High School was placed on lock-down just after the incident, and parents began picking up their children at 10:45 AM.

It was not the first time Todd R. Henry had been injured by a John Tyler High School student. He missed the first two weeks of school because he was recovering from surgery on a shoulder injured when he broke up a fight last year.

Tyler, TX is located about 95 miles southeast of Dallas. It has a population of 110,000.

Student Fakes Kidnapping to Hide Report Card

Based on this really dumb act of desperation, we see just why this student received F's on his report card. A Huntsville, AL boy reportedly faked his own kidnapping to hide bad grades.

The unidentified 11-year-old told police that “a man with a pistol snatched him” when he was leaving school. The abductor “forced him into a beat-up car,” according to the child.

However, the boy claimed he was able to escape by leaping out of the car. He was unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint, not able to grab his backpack, which had his report card.

Police were suspicious, however, by the fact that he managed to grab his band instrument. The boy later dished the truth to his grandparents, who called police and gave them the real story.

The boy faces no charges at this time, while the whereabouts of the backpack and report card are unknown.