A 41-year-old Palestine high school teacher and coach allegedly assaulted and strangled his teenage son inside the school while an officer struggled to intervene, police said.
Maurice Montez Heade, 41, worked as a teacher and coach at Palestine High School in Palestine, Texas.
On Thursday, Sept. 11, a School Resource Officer was alerted to an altercation in a hallway around 2:46 p.m., according to the Palestine Police Department.
The officer arrived to find Heade standing over and yelling at his 15-year-old son, who is a student at the school. The father had become upset after learning his son had been sleeping in class, police said.
Heade allegedly physically removed the teenager from the hallway, at one point striking him in the chest, according to police.
The officer followed the two into a locker room and attempted to deescalate the situation. After the teen made a comment, Heade allegedly lunged from his chair, struck his son in the face and tackled him into several chairs, police said.
The officer struggled to pull Heade away and repeatedly ordered him to release the boy, according to the department.
During that struggle, the coach allegedly strangled his son and at one point threatened to kill him, police said.
The resource officer eventually separated the two, police said.
The teenager was taken to the school nurse before EMS transported him to a hospital for evaluation. He was later released, police said.
Heade was arrested and booked into the Anderson County Jail, according to authorities.
He was booked on a charge of Assault Family/Household Member Impeding Breath or Circulation, a third-degree felony, police said.
Additional allegations of prior abuse have since been reported and remain under investigation, which could result in additional charges, police said.
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