Cloverdale employee put on administrative leave

8/24/12 UPDATE: Cloverdale Middle School is where Eric Terrell says the football coach choked and body slammed his son on Thursday.

"This is my only child. I am going to stand up and fight for him," said Terrell.

His son, Keonta, says he needed help fixing his chin strap because it was too tight. But the coach got upset.

"He just said boy you just need to shut the h*** up and wear the helmet.You are a little crybaby," said Keonte.

Keonta says the coach then lifted him by his helmet, causing the strap to choke him. The eighth grade tight end says he was thrown to the ground.

Although not injured, he felt it was important to call his dad at work.

"The only thing I could think about is this is my only son and I have to hurry up and get there," said Eric Terrell.

The police showed up as well and took a report, while school leaders put the coach on leave with pay. Terrell says he's using this incident as a learning experience for his son.

"I told him coaches be tough on you sometimes. I've had that done to me before. They are just trying to make you tougher. But putting your hands on my kid. That's a different thing and I am not going to stand for it," said Eric Terrell.

FOX16 is not identifying the coach because he is not charged with a crime and is still employed with LRSD. We were unable to contact the employee for comment, but school leaders say they are working to find out what happened.

LITTLE ROCK, AR – A Cloverdale Middle School employee is on administrative leave with pay right now, pending an investigation into an incident involving the employee and a student at the school.

Little Rock police were called out to the school Thursday afternoon.

Little Rock School District spokesperson Pam Smith would not say exactly what happened that prompted the paid leave. Smith did say that “safety and security are important for all students and the incident will be investigated thoroughly.”