A star football player for Frankford High was allegedly chased down, held down and beaten by truancy officers officer when he showed up late for classes one morning, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.



Jeffione Thomas was hospitalized with cuts, bruises and broken blood vessels on his face and missed three games after the alleged beating.



"My jaw still hurts when I eat," Thomas told the paper.



Thomas' friends and family say he overslept and was walking into school late on Oct. 29 when two school officers told him to get into a truancy van. Thomas said, "I'm already late," according to friends, and walked into the school.



His grandmother, who says she watched a school surveillance tape, said the officers ran inside the school after him.



One officer's accused of holding Thomas down while the other officer hit the teen, according to an email the school's Athletic Director sent to Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. The email asks Ackerman, "Please, as our leader, make sure that this student's beating is not washed over with untruths and that the bully that did this is not allowed to do it to some other child."

The email says the officers' "use of extreme force was uncalled for."



The teen ended up being charged with assault. His attorney plans to ask the D.A. to look into the case.

"We believe the truant officers completely overreacted," Fortunato Perri said.



Thomas, 18, spent time at a school for troubled kids after run-ins with the law about three years ago, but had turned life around, according to his grandmother.