JAMAICA, N.Y. (CN) - An elementary school in Queens had a 5-year-old kindergartener handcuffed and shipped to a mental hospital by ambulance because he was allegedly "misbehaving," his mother claims in state court.
Jasmina Vasquez sued New York City, the New York City Board of Education and the New York City Police Department, claiming she never gave the school's safety officers permission to uproot her son, Dennis Rivera, from his classroom at Public School 81 and whisk him off for a psychiatric evaluation. She claims defendants knew that her son had special needs, but still treated the 5-year-old like a criminal.
Represented by Harrison & Rothbard, the plaintiff demands punitive damages.
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