By: Jeff Lipton
Alisha Patrick, 16, was charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, after she was accused of assaulting fellow student Evan Kagan, 16, with a ball-point pen. Patrick-s father claims the incident followed two months of harassment directed at her in a case rife with racial overtones.
The girl was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on Feb. 25, and pleaded not guilty to the charge. She was released on her own recognizance. If convicted, she could face up to a year in jail.
The accusations against her are totally uncharacteristic of my daughter, said Paul Patrick, Alisha-s father. This boy is a troublemaker. My daughter is being unjustly treated when she was being harassed by this young man.
He said his daughter, who is an honors student, a peer tutor and a mediator at the high school, was being taunted by Kagan for two months before the Feb. 10 incident. But Kagan-s mother, Sharon, of Hewlett Neck, said the girl-s family and their attorney, Kevin C. Palmeri, are drumming up lies against her son in a desperate attempt to get the assault charge dismissed. She said the girl had threatened to beat her son up for weeks, and she is proud of her son for using tremendous restraint in the face of threats from a girl.
She is an honors student without honor, the boy-s mother said. My son is in shock, traumatized. He got stabbed, beaten, kicked in the groin. I can-t believe he did not punch her.
She lashed out at the Patricks- attorney, saying he should be ashamed of himself for trying to turn it into a racial incident. My son is a good kid, Kagan said. He-s a wonderful person. My son does not see color. It-s not a racial incident, but her attorney is trying to make it into one.
According to Palmeri, the incident took place during a free period after an Earth science class. He said Kagan was flinging candy wrappers at Patrick and taunting her. She left the room and moments later felt her knapsack being pulled, which hurt her neck.
As she was being pulled by her neck, she came up with a punch to get the person off of her, Palmeri said. She was holding a pen in her hand. The teacher came and broke it up.
Lt. Kevin Smith, a police spokesman, said Kagan was stabbed with the pen on the top of his head and in his chest, and a witness said he was also punched in the head and kicked in the groin. The boy-s mother said the pen was thrust into his chest with such force that it pierced a heavy down jacket and two shirts he was wearing. He was taken to a private physician for treatment of his wounds.
Smith said police had no choice but to arrest the girl after seeing the boy-s wounds and taking a statement from an independent witness. Police officers who respond to the scene observe all factors, Smith said. And the boy was in great pain. There was a student who was an independent witness. There was no choice but to effect an arrest. Police officers followed routine procedure in making the arrest.
But Palmeri claimed the girl would never have been arrested if she were white. He said Kagan-s mother insisted that the girl be arrested, allegedly telling the officers she had pull. The mother made the 911 call, and she threatened to make a big deal about her contacts, Palmeri said.
Kagan-s husband, Aaron, has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Hewlett Neck as well as the village-s police commissioner. Mrs. Kagan vehemently denied she ever used her influence to get the girl locked up. I made it a point not to mention anything about my husband, she said.
Palmeri said that shortly after the girl was arrested, he filed a cross-complaint with the Nassau County District Attorney to have Kagan arrested as well for his attack on Patrick based on her race.
Rick Hinshaw, a DA spokesman, said the facts of the case are being investigated, but the boy has not been charged. Patrick is due back in court on March 17. She-s accused of recklessly sticking him with a plastic pen and punching him during a fight, Hinshaw said. We-re investigating the facts.
The two students signed a school-sponsored agreement promising not to fight in school, which convinced Judge Anna Anzalone not to issue an order of protection that would require Patrick to stay away from Kagan.
The girl was suspended for five days after the fight, and the boy was kept out of school for two days during the investigation. But Patrick-s father, a minister in Rosedale, Queens, who has lived in Hewlett with his family for four years, said his daughter should not have a criminal record. My daughter has never been in detention before, he said. She-s a perfect child and a perfect student. My daughter doesn-t deserve to have a criminal record. She was defending herself. She-s the victim in this case. I will fight this with all my power and I will take the case to the White House if I have to.
I-m not upset with the school at this time, Patrick said. They have been very supportive of my daughter.
Hewlett High School Principal Dr. Joyce Bisso and Hewlett-Woodmere School District officials said they could not discuss the case, since it is a legal matter.
Palmeri said he has been receiving letters of support for Patrick from teachers at the high school. Students who know Kagan said it would be out of character for him to harass anyone, because he-s very quiet and keeps to himself.
My son never used a racial slur, and he never touched her, said Mrs. Kagan. The whole thing has been fabricated by the lawyer.
This whole thing has gotten me upset. My son could be dead if it were a knife instead of a pen, she said. There is unrest in the school because of her.
