The mother of a student at Akron’s Robinson Elementary School is facing charges of assault and criminal damaging after allegedly kicking the school’s secretary.
Rochell Finney, 24, was arrested Thursday after police were called to the school on 4th Avenue to investigate a report of a missing person.
When police arrived at the school, Finney — the mother of the student reported missing — was being detained in an office, according to a preliminary police report.
Robinson Principal Anthony Lane, who did not release the age or grade of the student, said the student’s grandmother phoned the school to say she would pick up her grandson 15 minutes before the regular 2:30 p.m. school dismissal time.
“His teacher had him gather his things and took him to the office at about 2:15 to wait for her to pick him up,” Lane said. “When the grandmother arrived at the school, between 3:08 and 3:10, her grandson was gone. His mother showed up around 3:30, came into the office, threw her phone on the desk, took off her coat and sped past me, going toward the secretary.
“I thought she was coming around to talk to me. It happened so fast, it was like less than a minute,” Lane said. “I grabbed her to protect everyone involved, and as I was pulling her away, she kicked the secretary.”
According to the police report, the student arrived at the school with his grandmother while officers were on the scene; he had walked to his grandmother’s house “instead of waiting in the office.”
Finney was arrested on charges of assault, a fifth degree felony, and criminal damaging, a second degree misdemeanor, for allegedly breaking window blinds. She was arraigned Friday in Akron Municipal Court and released from the Summit County Jail on a $5,000 signature bond.
The secretary, who suffered a panic attack, was transported to Cleveland Clinic Akron General.