Two arrested after police say student mistreated

Two Clark County School District transportation workers have been arrested after police say surveillance footage showed abuse of a 10-year-old special education student on a bus, an arrest report obtained Thursday said.

Bus aide Lafayette Clark, 24, was arrested Wednesday and accused of child abuse and coercion with force, which are felony charges, the Las Vegas police report said.

Bus driver Latasha Anderson, 41, was arrested Wednesday and accused of misdemeanor child neglect and failure to report, the report said.

Surveillance footage from Feb. 9 showed Clark forcefully grabbing and pushing the female student, who attends Variety Secondary School, because she was misbehaving, the report said.

"After watching the video, it is clear that Clark used unreasonable and unprovoked force on (the student), by grabbing her left arm and applying pressure for a prolonged amount of time," the report said.

After the student screamed for Clark to stop, Clark yelled "shut up and apologize" and then told her "it would be worse next time," the report said.

Clark then pulled the student's seat belt tighter, which caused her to cry out in pain, and later asked her whether she wanted to be knocked out, the report said.

Anderson did not try to stop Clark or question his actions, the report said. The student rubbed her wrists and cried for the remainder of the ride, the report said.

Anderson later reported "a combative child on the bus" to dispatch and could be heard telling Clark "Yeah, you owe me," the report said.

The following day, the student refused to get on the bus, according to a teacher interviewed in the report.

The student had been sexually abused in 2004 and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, according to a social worker interviewed by police.

"(The victim) showed great restraint for being an emotionally disturbed person during a traumatic situation," the social worker said in the report.

Clark has been employed by the district as a transportation aide since 2005, according to a release. Anderson has been employed by the district's transportation department since 1994.