WEST HAVEN –Police arrested a former teacher after an incident caught on video where a chair was pulled out from under a student.
West Haven Police arrested David Pfaff Monday night and he was charged with reckless endangerment, and breach of peace. Pfaff was released on a promise to appear. He is scheduled to appear on December 8 in Milford.
Police started investigating after a video of the incident was posted earlier in the month. The video showed an argument with a student and Pfaff. It showed the teacher pulling a chair out from under the student, causing him to fall.
Pfaff, 31, had been a teacher at Bailey Middle School in West Haven since September and was fired in early November.
He told “Chaz and AJ in the Morning” the incident started when a student refused to move his chair. The situation escalated and other students tried to intervene, but the student started calling other students and Pfaff names.
Audio courtesy of Chaz and AJ in the Morning, on 102.9 the Whale (Hartford,) 99.1 PLR (New Haven,) and 95.9 the Fox (Fairfield County.)
Pfaff did not describe what specifically happened when the chair was pulled, but said afterward the student had a “meltdown” and security was called. Pfaff said the student also was wrecking equipment in the room.
After spending most of his career in the chemical industry, Pfaff earned his teaching certificate in August of 2014. He spent the 2014-2015 school year as a substitute in the Middletown School System. He was in his first year as an 8th grade science teacher at Bailey Middle School when he was fired.
Superintendent Neil Cavallaro released the following statement:
As soon as we were notified last week of the incident in question, we immediately contacted the appropriate authorities and terminated the teacher, who was still on the probationary period that all new teachers are on when they are hired in our district. We cannot comment further, as the investigation is ongoing and it is also a personnel matter.
