A Lakeland man was arrested and charged this week after police officials say he gained access to Sleepy Hill Middle School and assaulted a substitute teacher while class was in session.
According to a Lakeland Police Department report, Jacquez Kornelius Ruise, 21, was let onto the school campus on Tuesday by a student through the west gate and used his cell phone to track the location of the victim’s classroom.
The victim told police Ruise walked onto campus, went to his classroom and began striking him with a closed fist, causing injuries to his face and head. He added he and Ruise had been “in a relationship, living together as a family for approximately 2 weeks.”
School resource officer Stephen Pope located the suspect and arrested him at 10:45 a.m. in the parking lot after placing the school on lockdown.
The victim told Pope the pair had a verbal altercation earlier in the day and Ruise was to pick up a vehicle in the school’s parking lot. The substitute had gone to the vehicle and placed the keys next to a tire of the vehicle for Ruise to retrieve.
During his first appearance Wednesday, Ruise was denied bond for the felony charge of burglary with assault and remains at the county jail, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Polk County Jail and police records show Ruise faces additional misdemeanor charges of trespassing on school grounds, disrupting a school function and domestic violence.
The incident was ultimately reported to families by Sleepy Hill Principal Denay Clark, who sent parents an alert Tuesday afternoon in an effort to assure parents all students and staff were safe.
“Sleepy Hill Middle was briefly on heightened security while law enforcement responded to a suspicious person on campus,” the email and text alert stated. “This person was an acquaintance of a substitute teacher who was working at our school. The person confronted the substitute teacher and struck him.”
School staff was continuing to cooperate with law enforcement in an ongoing investigation, she said, adding “and it appears this person is facing serious criminal charges.”
“Law enforcement continues to investigate this matter, but it is our understanding that this person was mistakenly let on campus by a student,” said Clark, reminding students of the importance of following security procedures.