Joan Naydich denies taking Brendan Depa’s Nintendo Switch
A teenager knocked a teacher unconscious over a Nintendo Switch, MPs said. (Screenshot: Flagler County Sheriff’s Office)
The Florida woman whose brutal assault of a high school student was caught on video says she did not confiscate the minor’s handheld video game console before the attack.
A worker at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast was attacked by 17-year-old Brendan Depa, a student, earlier this month.
According to a Law&Crime reviewed Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) report, 17-year-old Brendan Depa allegedly attacked the woman because he was “upset about it [she] took away his Nintendo Switch game.”
“Depa has stated that he will beat her up any time she takes the game away from him,” the report said.
A fundraiser on GoFundMe has identified the woman as Joan Naydich, and she says she did not take the boy’s video game.
“For all you keyboard warriors, I just want to set the record straight,” Naydich said in an update on Tuesday GoFundMe page created by one of her friends. “I never took the Nintendo Switch away from him. I have been told by anyone who has read or heard otherwise that unfortunately this was misinformation.”
The FCSO says the report, which does not identify Naydich as a victim of the attack, includes information provided to them by Depa and did not separately confirm that Naydich took the game console.
“The suspect’s testimony was his version of the attack,” Chief Kimberly Burroughs said in a statement emailed to Law&Crime.
Burroughs said the victim could not be questioned at the time of the arrest because of her injuries.
“The prosecution then conducted follow-up interviews, and in order not to re-traumatize the victim, we did not have a formal interview with her,” Burroughs said.
Prosecutors did not immediately respond to Law&Crime’s request for comment.
The FCSO incident report states that, according to surveillance video, Depa pushed the woman from behind and “threw her in the air, 5-6 feet and dropped her to the ground.”
Depa is about 6ft 6 tall and weighs 270 pounds, the report said. According to surveillance footage, the woman he allegedly assaulted is significantly smaller.
As the woman lay unconscious on the ground, Depa “was seen then kicking her […] and hit again and again [her] in the body and occiput about 15 times. At no time was [she] was able to block each of the punches since she was unconscious.”
Depa was eventually overpowered by “several MHS employees,” the report said.
The report notes that Depa “kept asking what was going to happen to him and if he could return to the group home.”
When the deputy said he couldn’t respond, “Depa got mad and started kicking my desk and computer system, causing my computer monitor to fall off.” Depa was then overpowered and transported by additional sheriff’s deputies.
Depa is also said to have threatened the victim almost immediately after the attack.
“As we passed by [the victim] treated by EMS, Depa started spitting up [her] and made comments that he will kill her when he comes back,” the report said.
On Facebook, the FCSO responded to comments that Depa appeared to be a special needs student after body camera footage showed him asking if he was going to jail and telling officers he had “more important places to be.” could”.
“Regarding debates about the student’s ESE status: Flagler Schools is not legally in a position to comment on a student’s status as a result of FERPA [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act]’ the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. “As such, the FCSO cannot answer questions on this subject.”
As of Wednesday, the crowdfunding effort has raised more than $83,000 for Naydich. According to the GoFundMe page, Naydich is currently “at home recovering.”
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https://lawandcrime.com/crime/this-was-unfortunately-misinformation-florida-woman-denies-taking-students-nintendo-switch-before-brutal-attack/ Joan Naydich denies taking Brendan Depa’s Nintendo Switch
