Akron, Ohio, October 21, 2024—DiCello Levitt’s Bobby DiCello and Ken Abbarno have been retained by the family of an Akron Public School student who was punched in the head multiple times by an Akron Police Department School Resource Officer (SRO) at Firestone Community Learning Center (CLC). The incident occurred on October 16 during morning metal detector procedures. Video surveillance released by Akron Public Schools shows two officers restraining the 16-year-old boy before the SRO punches him in the head multiple times before wrestling him to the ground.
“He is a child. And no child deserves to be punched in the face by an adult, especially when that adult happens to be an Akron police officer,” said Bobby DiCello. “Arrests by the Akron Police Department must not be a source of needless violence against the men, women, and children of the City of Akron. An arrest must follow proper procedures, not be driven by an officer’s rage, because if we let that rage be the standard that dictates how people in Akron are treated, our Constitution will be torn to shreds.”
At Akron Public Schools’ request, the SRO was removed from Firestone, and the SRO is now on administrative duty. DiCello Levitt will hold a press conference in the near future with family of the student.
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Media Contact Caitlin Whitehurst, Director of Communications, [email protected], 513-582-3532