Grand jury clears BISD cop who broke kid's arm

A part-time Beaumont ISD police officer accused of breaking a West Brook High School student's arm in March could be back at work as early as next week.

A Jefferson County grand jury cleared Stephen Rivers of any wrongdoing on Tuesday.

Rivers, who has been on unpaid leave since the March 7 incident, broke the student's arm while trying to break up an on-campus fight.

Rivers was facing a charge of official oppression, a class A misdemeanor, according to the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office.

In his BISD police report from the incident, Rivers details how he heard cheering and screaming at West Brook near the bus drive. When he got to the bus area, he found a student wrestling with Officer MeLisa Moore.

In his report, Rivers said Moore had the student by the waist and was struggling with him as he was attempting to strike her in the back with his elbows.

As he approached, the student swung at Rivers and missed, allowing Rivers to grab his wrist and his upper arm, pulling his arm behind his back "in a standard empty-hand arm pin maneuver" to gain control of him, the report states.

Stephen Rivers Stephen Rivers Photo: Provided Photo: Provided Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Grand jury clears BISD cop who broke kid's arm 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Rivers' goes on in his report to say the two fell to the ground and the student continued to forcefully resist.

It was on the ground as the two officers tried to gain control of the student that Rivers reported hearing an audible snap and the student scream.

"I immediately knew his arm had broken," Rivers' wrote in his report. "I advised PSO Moore so that she would not struggle with him anymore and released the intensity of the hold. I maintained [student's name removed] arm behind him so as not to cause further injury."

Although the incident happened on March 7, Rivers was not placed on unpaid leave until March 18, when cellphone video footage of the altercation was posted online.

At that time, Clydell Duncan, the school district's police chief, handed the investigation over to the Texas Rangers.

Duncan said on Tuesday that he was glad Rivers "was cleared of any serious violation of the law."

Because of the grand jury's decision, Duncan said the appropriate thing to do is bring Rivers back to work.

Duncan said he will present the information to the district's administration for approval and hopes to have a decision before the end of the week, when the district's administrative offices will close for its two-week summer break.

Because Rivers is a part-time employee, Duncan said he will not be eligible to get the three months back pay for his time on leave.

ARMoore@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/amyrmoore