Oakland school district fires resource officer accused of dumping student from wheelchair

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Unified School District has fired a high school resource officer who faces a felony child abuse charge after authorities say he beat and dumped a student out of his wheelchair.

The district announced the firing of Marchell Mitchell on Thursday.

District spokesman Troy Flint says Mitchell became angry earlier this month when a group of students was lingering in an Oakland High School hallway. He says Mitchell began pushing the students in the wheelchair toward class.

Flint says the student objected and began to slap the officer's hands. The student, identified as 17-year-old Francisco Martinez, told KTVU-TV (http://bit.ly/RK4Xg7) he also spit at the officer.

Flint alleges the officer handcuffed Martinez and then attacked him.

A working phone number for Mitchell couldn't be found. A call to the District Attorney's Office to see whether he had an attorney was not immediately returned.

___

Information from: KTVU-TV.