Teacher seen on video throwing hockey stick at student charged with assault

PRINCETON, Minn. -- A central Minnesota teacher who was seen on video throwing a hockey stick at a student has been charged with assault.

Kimberly Neubauer faces once count of third-degree assault, according to documents filed in Mille Lacs County Tuesday.

According to the criminal complaint, the Minnesota Department of Education notified police of the incident on March 29, a day after it occurred at Princeton Primary School.

About a month later, police were able to view surveillance video from the school. It showed a boy throw a hockey stick into a pile, then Neubauer "picked up the hockey stick from the pile and forcefully tossed the hockey stick back toward the child, hitting the child in the mouth," the complaint states.

The student, 8-year-old Easton Johnson, lost a baby tooth, the root and gum were significantly damaged and his lip was also busted, his mother told WCCO.

The school put Neubauer on unpaid administrative leave before later ending her employment.

Johnson's mother, Jodi, told WCCO he has anxiety about starting third grade in the fall because of the incident.

"He's very nervous about gym class, who teaches gym class, what do they do in that gym glass," she said. "It's going to take quite a bit I think to get him to feel comfortable again."