Crime Watch

Aide at special-needs school arrested

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A teacher’s aide at a special-needs school in Seaford has been arrested on child endangerment charges after police say she reportedly caused injuries to a student.

Alexandra Chmil, 25, of Third Street in Garden City, surrendered to Nassau County Police detectives at the 2nd Precinct in Woodbury on Jan. 8. The arrest stemmed from a May 1, 2015 incident at the Hagedorn Little Village School on Hicksville Road. Police say that a 39-year-old mother noticed redness and swelling on the face of her 9-year-old daughter, a student at Hagedorn, that afternoon.

The following day, the mother observed that the marks had turned black and blue and brought her child to the doctor for evaluation. On May 11, she viewed video of her daughter in the classroom which reportedly showed Chmil violently jerking the child’s head and wiping her face abruptly with paper towels.

The mother has been identified as a Rockville Centre woman, who has appeared on local television discussing the case.

Chmil resigned in June, according to the school, which released this statement: “We were distressed to learn that a former Teacher’s Aide at our school may have turned herself into the police. We treated this matter very seriously and took all appropriate action when we learned of the allegations. We will cooperate fully with the authorities. Since opening in 1969, Hagedorn Little Village School has had an impeccable reputation and it is of the utmost importance to us to protect the well-being, safety and privacy of our students.”

Chmil was charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of an endangered person and was arraigned in First District on Jan. 8.