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RPS middle schooler missing for hours after security officer drove away with student

Posted at 12:23 AM, Sep 20, 2014
and last updated 2014-09-23 15:57:20-04

RICHMOND, Va. -- A Richmond parent contacted CBS 6 after his son went missing from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School Friday morning.

Fred Young said it all started when his son was suspended for skipping class just before 11:00 a.m. Young claimed a school security officer decided to drive Ka'Lil Drummond, 13, home. This is where things get a bit cloudy, as Ka'Lil said he was put out of the officers car. But the officer allegedly said Ka'Lil jumped out. Regardless, Fred Young is looking for answers and for someone to be held accountable.

"I was like bruh why you lie to me?" Fred Young asked after he was informed of what happened. "You didn't have to lie to me like that."

Strong words from a father who says he has every right to be angry, after he said his son was taken without permission from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle, by a school security officer.

"I said 'This is not even where I live at' and he said 'Just stand right here I'm coming back; I'm going to get your address and your phone number,'" Ka'Lil Drummond recalled.

Fred Young said the officer went looking for the personal information at Armstrong High School, where Ka'Lil's older sister Ty'Liah Drummond goes.

"He (school security officer) asked me if I had any family that lived around and I said yes, my grandma," Ty'Liah said. "And he asked Ms. Brown (another school security officer) if I could go to my grandma's house."

Ty'Liah said she spent nearly 20 minutes inside the security officer's car looking for her lost brother, without her principal knowing she was gone.

"She didn't know nothing," Fred Young said. "When I say nothing, she didn't know nothing."

From the time Ka'Lil was taken away from Martin Luther King Middle inside the security officer's personal vehicle, it was a mile-and-a-half away and 5.5 hours later when he was found outside Fairfield Elementary.

What happened Friday is a violation of school policy, according to the school district's Chief of Safety and Security, Timothy Mallory.

"At this point through preliminary investigation it shows that staff has violated school board policy and procedure as it relates to transporting students in private vehicles," Mallory said.

Mallory added disciplinary action may be taken. And CBS 6 has learned an investigation by school leaders has been launched and is expected to be completed by next week.