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Student tackles school resource officer during fight

SAN JACINTO, Calif. (CNN) — Class had just let out Friday when a school resource officer started to break up a fight near campus.

He was soon swarmed with students — and it appears some of them tried to wrestle another student away from him. 

Daniel Levya, a substitute teacher, said, “That’s when I just ran in there and told everybody to back off.” 

Leyva said he knew he needed to act when he saw one student snatch the officer’s baton from him. 

“Yeah, I took it off of his hand because he pulled it off of him and he was trying to hide it but I just grabbed it off of him.” 

One student shed some light on why that officer may have had hit baton out in the first place. She said she witnesses a boy hitting a girl in the face in the original fight between students. “The security guard said, You don’t touch a woman, you’re gonna be arrested,’ and that’s when the student was pushing the security guard.” 

The student said the officer then tried to subdue the student. “But, he wouldn’t go down so he got his baton and hit him in the leg.” 

That was also caught on camera just moments before the tackle. 

Toward the end of the scuffle, the video shows the officer getting punched in the face. Pepper spray was then used to disperse some students. 

The student said, “Yeah, I breathed it in and got a little bit.” 

The substitute teacher said, “I think it’s a lack of respect for authority.” 

The school district might agree. It sent a message to parents explaining how the officer was assaulted and telling them to talk to their kids about following police orders.