An overprotective New Jersey father was arrested after he was caught on camera walking into a high school classroom, yelling at a teenage boy and grabbing another student’s arm.
Aaron Thomas, 38, was filmed entering a classroom at Paulsboro High School in Gloucester County on Monday and demanding that a teenage boy apologize to his daughter.
“Is there a problem with my daughter?” he asks the teen. Video posted on Instagram.
“Please apologize to my daughter,” he demands.
The frightened child replies, “I’m not doing anything,” but Thomas clearly doesn’t accept that as an answer, as his voice gets louder and firmer.
“You heard what I said. Apologize to my daughter now.”
The father’s barrage continued for more than a minute before an adult intervened and was seen placing a hand on the father’s back and attempting to force him out of the room as the parent began verbally sparring with another student. .
“It’s not worth it,” the adult can be heard trying to tell the father, who was apparently laughing at the fact that he had left the first teen “shaking.”
He was then seen having some kind of physical contact with a second student, and police allege he grabbed the student’s arm. According to NJ Advance Media.
Thomas then left the classroom and left the school grounds.
It remains unclear who let Thomas into the classroom and how they tracked down the student who had been arguing with her daughter.
Thomas was at the high school Monday to sign out his daughter, who apparently had an issue with a student over sharing her photo with others. 6 According to an affidavit obtained by ABC.
According to NJ Advance Media, the teacher did not have the school radio within reach when Thomas barged into the classroom and tried to defuse the situation by speaking directly to the enraged father, the affidavit states. There is.
New Jersey Advance Media reported that the school’s security director was only notified of the incident after Thomas left, and it took another three hours for school officials to call police.
Thomas was later arrested and charged with simple assault, terroristic threats, trespassing and disorderly conduct.
He was released Tuesday pending trial on the charges, but a judge ordered him to have no contact with the students or their families associated with him and to maintain monthly contact with court officials, according to New Jersey Advance Media. He is said to have ordered him to do so.
Meanwhile, the 15-year-old boy who confronted Thomas returned to class Wednesday, but was forced to drop out after receiving anonymous threats on his cell phone, his parents told NJ Advance Media.
They accuse school officials of failing to act quickly as their son was being beaten by his angry father, and the school is considering removing the boy from the public school district, but the son is hesitant about the idea. He said he was “completely distraught.”
The parents also rejected the idea that Thomas was simply trying to protect his daughter.
“What we’re talking about is two 15-year-old kids doing nonsense to kids and a father taking matters into his own hands,” the boy’s father told the NJ Advance. told. “And it goes without saying that the teacher in the classroom was just standing there blankly watching all this happen.
“And they say, ‘A father is defending his daughter,'” he said of those who try to defend Thomas.
“No, your father was a coward.”
In a letter to parents, School district officials said they are cooperating with police in the investigation and are “in contact with all parties involved.”
Acting Superintendent Philip C. Neff said he could not release further details about the incident, but insisted that “the safety and security of our staff and students is our top priority.”
“This unfortunate situation requires us to reflect and analyze our current practices to further strengthen the District’s safety and security procedures to ensure that our schools are safe places for all students and staff.” It gives me the opportunity to.”
