UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped assault charges against a Prince George's County high school teacher in connection with a November fight involving a student.
Prince George's County State's Attorney Office dropped second-degree assault charges against 36-year-old Vivian Noirie. It follows a child abuse charge she faced that was also dropped last week.
Officials said the student involved in a fight with Noirie was upset with the teacher for contacting her parents the night before and approached the teacher.
The student admitted to stepping on the teacher's foot and bumping into the teacher with her shoulder, police said. Then, the teacher repeatedly struck the student, police said.
School employees stepped in to separate the two, but according to police, the student grabbed the teacher from behind and repeatedly struck her before getting separated once again.
Neither the teacher nor the student needed medical attention, police said.
Detectives are petitioning for charges against the student through the juvenile court system, police said. Because the student is a minor, police won't release additional details regarding possible charges.
The assault was caught on cellphone video that spread on social media. Police were called prompting an investigation.
Sophomore Martin Bentu, 15, recorded much of the fight on his phone and shared it with a friend. Within minutes, that video had made its way to social media and gained thousands of views.
"I scratched myself. I was like, 'For real? This is happening,'" Bentu said.
Bentu said right before the fight broke out, his Spanish class was taking a test on their laptops. He said he saw the student approach the teacher.
"The student kept coming up to her asking, 'Are you going to change my grade? Are you going to change my grade?'" Bentu said.
He said, at first, the teacher responded calmly.
"She had told the student, 'Please can you back up, please,' and the student was like, 'No, I'm trying to talk to you about my grade,'" he said.
Bentu said he felt like something was about to happen, so he pulled out his phone to start recording.
"She nudged the teacher, and the teacher immediately swung, and then they went at it," Bentu said.
Prince George's County officials said they are still investigating that fight and that they haven't ruled out other charges that could be pressed against Noirie.
Noirie was hired in November 2018, school officials said.