Clarksville Teacher Assaulted Student In Nashville: Police

NASHVILLE, TN -- A 59-year-old Clarksville Academy teacher allegedly grabbed a 16-year-old student around the neck and pushed him against a wall at a Nashville hotel in March.

Robert Neitzke, an art teacher at the school, was the only faculty member with a group of students participating in the YMCA's Youth And Government event March 1-4 in Nashville. According to an affidavit, he was speaking to a group of about 15 students in a hallway at the Renaissance Hotel at 11 p.m. March 3.

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"[Neitzke] had stopped talking several times so that the students would quiet down. The victim was very tired and wanted to speed the process up, so he said to [Neitzke], 'Can we hurry this up?' [Neitzke] then came over to the victim and started to grab the victim but pulled away his hand. [Neitzke] made a comment to the victim about how 'It would be funny if your head hit the wall,'" according to a Metro Police affidavit.

Neitzke then allegedly grabbed the teenager by the beck and pushed him into the wall. The student was not injured. Police said the other students present corroborated the story.

The student did not report the incident to police until March 18 and the school's attorney told the Leaf-Chronicle that administration there didn't hear about it until March 15. The attorney said before the school was able to report the alleged assault to the Department of Children's Services, a police investigator called.

Though Neitzke, who had taught at CA since 2001, was the only teacher on the trip, there were other chaperones there, according to the attorney.

Neitzke was placed on administrative leave by the school in mid-March and has since resigned. He is charged with one count of assault.

Photo via Metro Nashville Police