OAKLAND — An officer working at Oakland High School has been convicted of felony assault for beating a disabled student.

The student was in a wheelchair last year when Officer Mitchell forced him out of the wheelchair, punched him four times while he was handcuffed, kicked his body, and then threw his own wheel chair on top of him

Judge Stuart Hing may sentence him to as much as four years in prison, or as little as some probation.

Officer Mitchell was acquitted of an additional assault count as well as two counts of corporal injury on a child.

The child was a victim of cerebral palsy and suffers pain to this day because of the assault.

Officer Mitchell said he believed his life was in danger as the child became “verbally combative.”

He added that he believed the child in the wheel chair may have been “reaching for a knife.”

The child, however, says he never did anything threatening. No “knife” was ever found.

The school district plans to increase the level of training for its officers in light of the incident.

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