HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - A Miramar woman who taught special needs students at a Hialeah private school was arrested on a child abuse charge after surveillance video showed her slamming and pinning an 8-year-old student to the classroom floor.
Nikol Marie Rodriguez, 29, a teacher at Peace Christian Academy, was taken into custody Thursday and booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
According to an arrest report, the incident occurred March 4 inside a classroom at the school, located at 490 E. 50th St.
Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators shows Rodriguez pulling the boy’s arms behind his back, mounting him, and forcefully slamming his upper body and head onto the floor. The struggle lasted several minutes, during which Rodriguez pinned the child’s arms, pressed him into a corner, and folded one of his arms across his spine. A nearby classmate was seen covering his eyes and ears throughout the ordeal.
The victim, identified only by initials, is a student with special needs who has been enrolled at the school since August 2024. He is described as non-violent and unable to articulate more than simple requests.
The school’s own incident report described the intervention as a “de-escalation procedure” intended to prevent the child from harming himself or others. However, investigators said surveillance footage contradicted that account, showing the child was not displaying any physically threatening behavior before Rodriguez approached him.
Rodriguez did not call for medical assistance after the incident.
That evening, the boy’s mother discovered a puncture wound on his right bicep, bruising and scratches on his upper chest, and whole-finger bruise marks below his left arm near the armpit.
Rodriguez faces one count of child abuse without great bodily harm.
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