12-year-old arrested in teacher battery

A 12-year-old Swainston Middle School student was arrested Tuesday on charges of battery of a teacher, Clark County School District Police said.

Lt. Ken Young, a district police spokesman, said a male teacher was breaking up a fight between two boys at Swainston about noon Tuesday when one of the students turned around and struck the teacher. The teacher went to the hospital with a broken finger, but Young said he didn't know whether it was the student that caused the break.

"The student swung at the teacher. It wasn't an all-out attack. He hit him, and that constitutes battery," he said.

The boy was taken to the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center. Police recommended charging the boy with battery of a school district employee, Young said.