MCLEAN COUNTY, Ill. (WMBD) — A Ridgeview School District bus driver was sentenced to 12 months of court supervision after leaving red marks on a child from grabbing the back of their neck and arm.
Joseph Zimmerman, 64, pled guilty to battery, making physical contact, a misdemeanor, and in return, aggravated battery of a child under 13, and another battery charge were dropped, according to the McLean County Circuit Clerk’s Office.
The McLean County Sheriff’s Office was called on April 9 to the 300 block of North Main Street in Saybrook to a report of a battery between a school bus driver, Zimmerman, and an 11-year-old student, according to court documents.
When deputies arrived, they talked to the victim’s mom, who told them her child had gotten on the bus in the school parking lot when Zimmerman allegedly grabbed the back of his neck and arms, the records stated.
Another kid who was on the bus allegedly took photos of the boy’s neck, and the deputy on the scene also reported seeing the marks on his neck, the documents said.
Video from the incident was watched by Colfax Police Chief Ritchie Cooper, who says the video shows Zimmerman walking from the back of the bus and grabbing the boy by the back of his neck, and the boy’s head moves forward, the documents state.
When interviewed by Cooper and another officer in a private room, the child reportedly told them Zimmerman grabbed his arm and neck over a ball that was on the bus.
While Zimmerman was being interviewed, he confirmed to deputies he grabbed the boy’s arm, but not the back of his neck, after the boy kicked a ball off the bus, the document says. Zimmerman said he had a ‘no balls’ rule on the bus, and the ball did not belong to the boy.
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