Boy says officer roughed him up; lawsuit planned

      When a Henderson police officer disciplining a group of fourth-graders at McCaw Elementary School asked Conrad Jimenez if he had "an attitude," the terrified 9-year-old responded with a flustered and confused "yes," his mother claimed.
      For that answer, officer Randy Ryswick picked the boy up by the front of his shirt, dragged him from the room and slammed him against a wall, Rose Jimenez said.
     

Shane and Rose Jimenez listen Friday as their 9-year-old son, Conrad, describes a Dec. 16 disciplining incident involving a Henderson police officer and fourth-graders from McCaw Elementary School. They said they plan to sue the officer and possibly the school principal connected to the incident. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

Now she and her husband, Shane, plan to file a lawsuit against the officer and possibly against the principal who, she said, decided the best way to make children behave is to have police scare them senseless.
      The incident arose out of the misbehavior of four boys who, the morning of Dec. 16, were harassing nearby apartment residents. Rose Jimenez said her son was not with the other children when they were knocking on apartment doors and running away.
      The principal of the Henderson school, Janet Dobry, said Conrad did, however, join those children in throwing rocks at a youngster. Dobry said she didn't see the officer manhandle Conrad and that she believes a strong message from police in schools can help stop gang activity before it starts.
      "We are like every school. We really don't want kids to get into the gang-threatening mentality. So I asked the policeman to really make believers out of these kids," Dobry said.
      The lawsuit, which attorney Robert Kossack said he plans to file Monday in U.S. District Court, will charge battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress against the officer and possibly the school.
      Conrad's mother said when Ryswick arrived, he gathered the boys into a room where he began yelling at them and cursing.
      "He told these little boys he could go to their house and take their parents to jail. He was hollering at them and they were so scared some of the little boys were crying," she said of her son's account.
      When Ryswyck asked Conrad if he had a "bad attitude," she said, he "took him outside and roughed him up.
      "My son had two bruises on his chest where this policeman poked him," she said.
      Ryswick did not return phone calls requesting comment.
      Another mother of a student, Carol Mancha, said her son, Pedro, confirmed Conrad's story.
      She said she only learned about the incident after hearing from Conrad's parents.
      "I was very, very angry. They scared my son so badly he didn't want to tell me about it," Mancha said.
      Dobry said the school's policy doesn't require her to call parents when their children are being disciplined.
      The principal also told all the parents, who met with her as a group later in the month, that she didn't see the officer hurt Conrad.
      The Jimenez family has filed a criminal child abuse complaint against Ryswick with the Clark County School District Police Department. "The complaint is under investigation," district police officer Erik Aldays said.
      The family also has filed a complaint with the Police Department's Internal Affairs Division.
      Mancha said an officer interviewed Pedro without either parent present.
      "My son told me they tried to make him feel guilty by asking if he thought the policeman should lose his job and go home and tell his family they have to move," Mancha said.
      Conrad's father said his son has been having nightmares and has not wanted to return to school.
      "He's a little kid. He got the bejesus scared out of him," Shane Jimenez said. "Here we have a perfectly normal boy one day a few days later, the boy is having bloody noses from the stress."
      Rose Jimenez asked why Dobry called police instead of handling the situation herself.
      "Why couldn't she have told them `That's a bad thing to do,' or something? She's the principal of the school, you know."
      Dobry said she was concerned stories about the incident might wrongly glorify the plight of a child with a history of misbehavior at school, including an expulsion a few days after the incident for stealing juice.
      "This is not a giant issue," she said of the police visit. "What has happened now is that instead of the kid believing he needs to do the right thing, he is in a mode where he believes all police are wrong."