Bronx charter school teacher accused of beating, robbing student who pocketed his weed money allegedly threatened teen’s mom with rape ‘every day after work’
By Megan Cerullo, Thomas Tracy and Larry McShane
New York Daily News | September 25, 2016
This Bronx teacher had no class.
Charter school instructor Kevin Pope, outraged when a student robbed him of $4,000 in drug money, beat the teen senseless and threatened to have his mother raped, authorities charged Saturday.
“You better get my money,” the teacher snapped at the battered 16-year-old after the Wednesday beatdown, according to court papers. “You know where I work.”
Pope, 48, repeatedly punched the boy in the face, knocking him backward into the glass window of a local business before the teen collapsed on the sidewalk, a criminal complaint charged.
“Do you want to die?” Pope allegedly shouted at the teen. “You want to steal from me? I should break your arm ... I should get someone to rape your mom every day after work.”
The victim needed three staples to close several deep wounds on the back of his head after the beating near the John V. Lindsay Wildcat Academy in Hunts Point, according to the complaint.
The instructor’s attack on the teen was captured on surveillance video, Assistant District Attorney Gerard Donahue said.
Pope was released without bail Saturday after a Bronx hearing where his lawyer bizarrely claimed the student had simply stolen the science teacher’s briefcase — which was filled with $5,000 in cash.
Police sources indicated the youth made off with the cash in a June drug deal gone bad. And a criminal complaint charged that Pope robbed the 16-year-old student of a gold chain, iPhone and wallet during the Wednesday assault.
Pope, per his lawyer’s instructions, said nothing as he left the courtroom. The instructor was charged with assault, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and robbery, and Judge Harold Adler issued orders of protection requiring Pope to steer clear of the victim and his mom.
Bronx Judge Harold Adler took a skeptical view of defense attorney Japel Filiaci’s claim that Pope was robbed while riding a city bus with all that cash.
When Adler asked what Pope was doing with that much money on mass transit, Filiaci said she never asked.
“He took the money out, maybe to transfer it,” the lawyer replied.
The extracurricular drama began three months ago, when the teen told the teacher he had a drug connection in Manhattan, police sources said.
Pope agreed to pay $4,000 for roughly a pound of weed, possibly in hopes of peddling the pot — and the pair went to meet with the dealer, according to sources.
But the transaction collapsed when the connection demanded $7,000 — and the student walked away with Pope’s cash.
The teacher finally approached the teen on Wednesday to settle the debt.
No comments:
Post a Comment