A Florida middle school teacher has been arrested for allegedly knocking out a 12-year-old student’s tooth with his elbow and throwing a basketball at his head during a heated game of hoops at school.
The victim told police Monday that the teacher, identified as 41-year-old James Bellamy, had gotten “angry” at him because he thought that the boy had intentionally hit him during the basketball game.
Bellamy, who teaches physical education and serves as the athletic director at Putnam Academy of Arts and Sciences in Palatka, was charged with child abuse and battery.
The alleged attack was also caught on camera, the boy’s mother, Toni Foster, told cops.
“Foster had been shown a video of her son and Bellamy playing basketball,” the Palatka Police Department said in a statement.
“The video showed Bellamy throwing the ball at her son and then later elbowing him in the mouth which knocked the child’s tooth out.”
The student, who has not been identified, claimed the teacher had flown into a fit of rage “because Bellamy believed he had intentionally struck his arm or head while they were playing,” police said.
The youngster alleged that Bellamy called him back onto the court and then hurled the ball at him, but he managed to duck out of the way and was not hit by it.
“The child said he and Bellamy then started playing and then Bellamy struck him in the face with his elbow which knocked his tooth out,” cops said.
Investigators then went to Bellamy’s home and questioned him about the incident at school.
The teacher claimed that the 12-year-old boy had hit him while he was playing basketball with a group of students.
“He said he threw the ball at the victim but when his elbow hit the child it was not intentional,” according to the police.
Bellamy was booked into the Putnam County jail and ordered held without a bond.