Largo police respond to 7-year-old's temper tantrum

Largo, Florida - Richard Smith says it was overkill.

"What rational person would so something like that to a seven-year-old kid?"

Smith and his wife, Barbara, say their son is sensitive and shy but has no history of mental illness and isn't a danger. "He's never hurt himself. He's never hurt anybody else."

Their son attends classes at Mildred Helms Elementary School located at 561 South Clearwater-Largo Road. His mother volunteers at the school each day. She's on the PTA. She tutors students and monitors students in the cafeteria at lunchtime.

Wednesday afternoon, she says, she got a call from the school saying she needed to get to her son's portable classroom immediately. According to police documents, the entire class had to be evacuated after her son threw a temper tantrum, pushed some books off a table and stepped on a teacher's foot.

Barbara admits her son was suspended on a different occasion for knocking over a desk. But, on this day, several Largo police officers responded and at first they wouldn't let her see her son. She describes the condition her son was in when she was allowed in. "My son is pretty much in a corner standing there pretty much scared to death."

Largo Police confirm that three officers and one sergeant responded to the call which came in as a disturbance call of a "child tearing up a classroom." Officer Michael Kirkpatrick decided to Baker Act the child. Barbara and her son were transported to Morton Plant hospital in the back of a patrol car. Her son spent the night in the hospital and was released Thursday morning. "It was just a humiliating public display."

Barbara says a child psychologist saw their son and staff members told her that the doctor described her son this way, "He found him to be very bright and polite and he was nice to everyone."

School Principal Joyce Spencer wouldn't talk about the incident with 10 Connects News, instead referring us to Pinellas County School district officials. Andrea Zahn is a spokesperson with the school district and says that type of student information is confidential.

John Carroll is the deputy chief of police for Largo's Police department and says, "Our officers determined that it was necessary to take him into custody but without handcuffs, without restraining him and we were able to coax him out of the classroom."

Carroll, who's a father himself, says police felt the child needed professional evaluation. "We can sometimes be painted as the bad guy in this scenario, but I think it's important for the public to understand all we want to do is make sure that child gets the services that they need. That's it and we hope he's doing well today."

The Smiths have a nine-year-old daughter who attends the same school and they say both kids are too afraid to go back to class right now. In the meanwhile, they're hoping to meet with Julie Janssen who is the superintendent of Pinellas County Schools.

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