Third-grader’s arrest leads to lawsuit

BOISE – The parents of an 8-year-old autistic girl who was arrested at her North Idaho elementary school are suing the school district and the sheriff’s department, contending the agencies violated the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Spring Towry and Charles Towry, along with their daughter, Evelyn, filed the lawsuit against the Lake Pend Oreille School District and the Bonner County Sheriff’s Department in Idaho’s U.S. District Court on Friday. They say their rights were violated when Evelyn, then a third-grader at Kootenai Elementary School, was handcuffed and arrested after school staffers said she spit on and inappropriately touched two instructors.

School district attorney Brian Julian said the district denies wrongdoing.

Associated Press