Story Archive

This School’s a Riot

A policeman assigned to a Pine Bluffs, Ark., junior high school thought students weren’t getting to class quickly enough, said Superintendent Jerry Payne, so the cop took out his pepper spray and sent three of them to a hospital instead. “It came all straight down the hall, and blew straight into my face,” said student Adria Williams, whose mother said she was unable to obtain treatment. Volunteer Tarissa Correll said she found her daughter hyperventilating with a badly swollen face. “The nurse, she’s an RN, told me I didn’t have much time and to get her to the hospital immediately.” Police department policy says to avoid using the spray in confined spaces. Correll noted that she had heard the officer threaten students with the spray and his Taser. “I don’t know if he was joking,” she said. A police spokesman said the department was investigating. (AC/AP, KARK Little Rock, KLRT Little Rock) ...Well, Pine Bluff students will be well prepared for college — if they go to UC Davis.