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Baldwin-Whitehall Teacher Charged After Student Claims He Was Punched

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A Baldwin-Whitehall teacher accused of assaulting a student is now facing charges.

Damon Kolich, 13, on North Baldwin, says his math teacher punched him earlier this month in a hallway at the Harrison Middle School in Whitehall.

The teacher, 43-year-old Brian Paulos, has now been charged with harassment and assault.

Kolich's grandmother, Christine Kolich, filed a report about the incident with Whitehall Police.

By the time police got to the school, Paulos had already been escorted out of the building by the principal, and Kolich's family had picked up the teenager, and taken him to Jefferson Regional Medical Center for treatment.

"Our dispatch center received a call," said Chief Dolfi. "We responded to the school; however, when we got to the school, the staff member was not on scene and neither was the victim."

"Damon told me he was punched in the chest, he fell over, hit his head and passed out," the boy's grandmother told KDKA-TV News.

When Damon awoke, he was in a classroom.

The District Administration is conducting its own internal investigation into what happened. It released a short statement Friday evening, saying:

"He (Paulos) is on paid leave until the district concludes their investigation which was on hold pending the criminal charges."

What may have angered the teacher, according to Kolich's grandmother, was something her grandson told her happened on Tuesday.

"The day before, there was a substitute teacher, and I guess Damon was chit-chatting in class, and this teacher was not too happy with this when he came back today," she said, "and I guess that provoked him and that was it."

The boy was taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center complaining of headaches and chest pain.

A police report says Paulos told detectives he was not aware the student was hurt, until he saw the principal coming into his classroom later.

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