Paulsboro, NJ: Authorities in New Jersey have charged a father with numerous offenses stemming from his alleged confrontational behavior with other pupils at his daughter’s high school.
The Paulsboro Police Department has charged 38-year-old Aaron Thomas with two charges of terroristic threats, as well as one crime of simple assault, one offense of trespassing, and one count of disorderly conduct.
An Instagram video of the altercation quickly gained traction online.
According to officials, the event took place on Monday at Paulsboro High School. An adult approaches a pupil as they walk through a classroom in the widely-shared video.
The father keeps repeating, “Apologize to my daughter.”
“So, you’re having issues with my daughter?” the adult guy inquires of the adolescent. Tell my daughter I’m sorry.
In response, the student stated that he was not responsible for anything.
“You heard what I said,” the man says. Tell my daughter I’m sorry.
After the man has been in the classroom for about a minute, another adult approaches him and pats him on the back, seemingly trying to calm him down and ask him to leave.
He says, “If I have to come up here again, I’m going to slap fire on both of you” in the video.
A second altercation with an additional student occurs later on. Thomas, this time, seemed to physically touch the second pupil after the adolescent pushed him to fight by grasping his arm.
Thomas initially went to the high school to sign his daughter out due to an issue she was having with another student about sharing images, according to an affidavit in the case acquired by WPVI, an ABC station based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This little borough in New Jersey is a component of the greater Philadelphia region.
The school contacted the police almost three hours following the contretemps. Upon leaving the school, Thomas was apprehended and subsequently incarcerated later that same day. According to NJ Advance Media, he was released following a hearing that took place on Tuesday.
Thomas cannot visit his daughter’s high school or communicate with any of the individuals or families associated with the altercation as per the conditions of his bail.
The confrontation that occurred in school and the footage that was released on “social media platforms” were both noticed by the school administration.