Middle school coach caught on video sneaking up behind and choking 14-year-old with shirt

A Michigan high school coach was caught on camera sneaking up behind a 14-year-old student and choking him with a shirt, causing the teen to double over and lose color in his face.

The shocking surveillance footage from Ypsilanti Middle School shows the unidentified coach stalking the teen as he walked down a hallway last week, wrapping a shirt around his hands and wrists as he approached the boy.

He then wraps the shirt around the boy’s throat, causing the victim to bend over and lose color in his face as he struggles to tear the shirt from his neck.

Finally, after about 20 seconds, the teen manages to break free and pushes the coach away as other teachers come into view.

The family of the teenager, Michael Moon, say he suffered injuries to his neck as a result of the attack and has since refused to return to school.

The incident reportedly started after an argument between the teen and the coach on June 4.

Michael told his parents that the coach – who also served as a hall monitor at the school – saw him running around the hallway and told him to do push-ups. told ABC7.

But Michael had a hand injury and tried to explain to the coach that he couldn’t do sit-ups. He was then seen on surveillance footage walking past the coach, who was sitting in a chair.

After about 10 seconds, the coach also stood up – apparently signaling to another teacher that he would be right back – as he began following Moon down the hall.

Moon would later file a police report against the coach, and local police provided his parents with a copy of the video.

Moon’s parents, Steve Moon and Yolanda Ellis, said they were immediately shocked and angry by what they saw in the footage.

“I’m outraged that someone would come after a 14-year-old child and strangle him,” Ellis said. told Fox 2 Detroit.

They now hope that the coach will be charged for the assault, and argue that other teachers who were nearby should also be punished for failing to intervene in time.

“It made me lose faith in the school system,” Ellis told ABC 7.

“It also made me lose confidence in the coach because he was someone Michael looked up to.”

Since the attack, she noted, her son has refused to return to school — and no one from the high school or Ypsilanti Community Schools has contacted him to check on him.

“We recently got Mike where he has been social and working on his social skills,” she noted.

“He hasn’t been outside since the incident,” Ellis said. “He didn’t want to go back and finish school.”

An attorney representing the family now plans to sue the school district because school officials failed to intervene in the attack.

“In that video, other people should have run in to stop the attack,” attorney Jordan Vahdat told Fox 2. “I didn’t see that happen.”

He said he will also conduct his own investigation into the incident, as well as any previous problems the coach may have had with other students that district officials should have known about.

But first, he said, he would like to meet with county officials to discuss the incident.

‘Number one is responsibility, the school has to do something to make this right.

“Now they’ve inflicted trauma and if it’s something he has to work through… he should be looking forward to the summer.”

It is now unclear whether Moon will return to high school next year.

“What I want to do is, first and foremost, make sure Mike is safe when he goes back to school,” Ellis said.

“Get him the help he needs, too.”

In a statement to ABC 7, Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross said the coach has been dismissed from his position at the school “and is not permitted to enter school grounds or attend school activities.”

“Our district is committed to creating a safe and supportive environment for all students,” she said.

“The employee’s actions are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our district.”

School officials also sent a letter to parents on Monday, detailing a “serious incident” involving a staff member.

The letter does not mention any abuse or the nature of the incident, but said district officials “immediately” contacted social services and began cooperating with a police investigation.

“We are committed to fully cooperating with the relevant authorities,” the letter said.

‘Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation and the involvement of a student, we cannot provide specific details.’

The coach has not yet been charged with any wrongdoing.

DailyMail.com has contacted the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office and Ypsilanti Community Schools for comment.