Student said he was choked at school

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - An Elmhurst High School student claims a school administrator choked him at a pep rally, Friday. Five days later, the student wound up in jail for a physical dispute with an officer.

In a police report, Matthew John Smith, 18, says assistant principal John Hester told him he was going to jail, then grabbed him by the neck and choked him.

Hester was placed on administrative leave with pay while Fort Wayne Community Schools investigates the allegation. He has been with the district for 26 years. In 2005, Hester was suspended without pay for five days, while he served as the assistant principal at Wayne High School. In that incident, Hester had suspended a student, but failed to inform her guardian. She disappeared for four days before she was located.

Smith told police he had never said or done anything to provoke Hester, and never gotten into trouble at school.

That all changed Wednesday, when police arrested Smith for disorderly conduct charges. A Fort Wayne police spokeswoman says Smith got into a physical dispute with an officer in the school cafeteria.

As of Wednesday, Hester was still on paid leave. He did not immediately return our phone call.