Fresno city instructor accused of attacking student

Fresno city instructor accused of attacking student, Fresno City College instructor and former Fresno council member Brian Calhoun was put on paid administrative leave Monday following his physical altercation with a 19-year-old female last month.

A campus police report says at least a half-dozen students and a substitute instructor support journalism major Kevynn Gomez's account of what happened inside the Old Administrative Building on March 22, a day before spring break.

In the police report, Gomez admits cursing at Calhoun because she said he was being rude to students and a substitute teacher in her class. She said she punched Calhoun in the face because Calhoun grabbed her left arm and he used his forearm to pin her neck against a wall, the report says.

After being punched, Calhoun lifted Gomez and slammed her onto the ground. He then towered over the 5-foot, 101-pound Gomez before students pulled him away, the report says.

Calhoun wanted to continue his attack, but several students stepped in front of him, the report says.

Calhoun was cited for misdemeanor battery and ordered to appear in Fresno County Superior Court on June 19.

Calhoun, 69, is a former Fresno City Council member who has worked at FCC since 1988 and makes $109,766 per year. Monday, he referred questions to his attorney Roger Nuttall, who insisted Gomez started the fight. "This wouldn't have happened if she hadn't lashed out," Nuttall said Monday.

But Gomez's attorney, Catherine Campbell, said Nuttall's assertion was ridiculous. "His attack was flagrant and violent," Campbell said, noting that Calhoun is at least 6 feet tall. "He was out of control."

At least a half-dozen students and substitute teacher Michael Medrano gave their accounts to campus police. All agree the incident started near the end of the 10 a.m. Chicano-Latino Studies class that Medrano was teaching.

When Calhoun arrived to teach his Survey of American Education class, which was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., he got angry because Medrano's class was running late. Typically, three-unit college classes that meet three times a week are scheduled for 50 minutes with a 10-minute break between classes.

In the report, Medrano says he informed Calhoun that students needed an extra couple of minutes to finish a mid-term test, but Calhoun insisted he "wanted the classroom."

Gomez says Calhoun yelled at the students to leave. After she turned in her exam, she cursed at Calhoun, who then followed her into the hallway, demanding her name and saying, "You can't talk to me like that."

David Castro, a student in Gomez's class, is quoted in the report telling police that Calhoun "just snapped."

"The instructor went out after her and grabbed her left arm and grabbed her around the neck with his other arm," Castro said. Gomez tried to pull away, but Calhoun wouldn't let go, Castro said.

"Gomez punched or swung her arm at him and knocked his glasses off," Castro said. "The instructor picked Gomez up and slammed her on the ground."

Castro told police students pulled Gomez away from Calhoun, but Calhoun still tried to go after her.Gomez, a graduate of Sunnyside High in Fresno, is in her first semester at FCC. She also is a reporter for the campus newspaper, The Rampage.

Her attorney said Gomez was able to defend herself because in her youth she took judo lessons. "She got in a good punch," Campbell said.

Calhoun served as an Army intelligence officer during the Vietnam War era and spent seven years as a county supervisor in Wisconsin. He has a doctorate in educational policy studies from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Elected twice to the Fresno City Council, Calhoun termed out in January 2009. A year before he made an unsuccessful bid to become a Fresno County supervisor.

He was arrested for drunken driving in 2004 just hours after he won re-election to the City Council. Through his attorney, Calhoun entered his guilty plea.

At FCC, Calhoun's job was to train students to become teachers.

Monday, the first day back from spring break, Calhoun's suspension caught his students off-guard. They learned of it through a note posted outside his classroom door on the second floor of the Old Administration Building.

"He seems like a nice guy," said student Bradley Olsen, 19. "But he also could be sub-weird."

Calhoun started every class session by playing music, usually the band Journey, Olsen said. During class, he liked to show photographs of his vacations, talk about his time in the Army and extol the virtues of duct tape.

But he was serious, too, especially when he talked about gun control and violence in school, Olsen said. He reminded students frequently that "the world has changed from the time when he was a little kid in school," Olsen said.

Cori Murphy, 19 and also a student in Calhoun's class, agreed with Olsen's assessment. But Calhoun's likability changed on March 22.

"It was pretty traumatic," said Murphy, who said she witnessed Calhoun's altercation with Gomez. "He not only scared her, but he scared us, too."

The altercation showed that Calhoun is easily "snapable," and "not a good role model for future teachers," Murphy said.

Fresno city instructor accused of attacking student 2013-06-04T11:54:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: My Videos Tube