Diaz Elementary Teacher Arrested After Video Shows Her Dragging Student by Collar

A 63-year-old Las Vegas elementary school teacher has been arrested after surveillance video allegedly showed her grabbing a student by his collar while he sat on a hallway floor, then forcibly dragging him by the back of his shirt. Marianna Wynn was booked on suspicion of battery on a protected person, a gross misdemeanor, following an investigation that began after the principal at Ruben P. Diaz Elementary School reported the incident to campus police.

According to KSNV, the Clark County School District Police Department arrested Wynn on August 24, following an investigation that started at Diaz Elementary on August 21. The arrest report states that the first student involved has autism and Down syndrome, along with limited ability to communicate. Police say Wynn was also seen in two other incidents grabbing and dragging that same student by his collar, and that she grabbed a second, not-yet-identified student by the collar on the back of his shirt as well. Two other students were reportedly seen running through the hallway during the episodes.

Surveillance Footage Central to the Case

The Diaz Elementary principal reportedly showed CCSD police the surveillance video that captured the alleged conduct, according to the same report. Wynn had been employed by the Clark County School District since July 2024 and was most recently assigned as a teacher at Diaz Elementary, located at 4450 East Owens Avenue, a school that serves roughly 567 pre-K through fifth-grade students, per Niche. The first student's legal guardian has said they want to pursue criminal charges against Wynn, the station's report notes.

Wynn made her first court appearance in Las Vegas Justice Court on August 22, where the court granted her release on the condition that she stay out of trouble. Her attorney status remains unclear, per the same account. A status check hearing is scheduled for September 22 in Las Vegas Justice Court. Prosecutors have requested more time before deciding whether to file formal charges — a delay that Nevada law accommodates, since prosecutors have up to two years from the date of an alleged gross misdemeanor to file charges under Nevada Revised Statutes Section 171.090, according to the Spartacus Law Firm.

What the Law Says About Restraint in Nevada Classrooms

If Wynn is ultimately charged and convicted, battery on a protected person without substantial bodily harm carries penalties of up to 364 days in jail and fines as high as $2,000 under Nevada Revised Statutes Sections 200.481 and 193.140, according to the Las Vegas Defense Group. Nevada law also draws a hard line around physical force used on students with disabilities: Nevada Revised Statutes Section 388.499 explicitly prohibits physical restraint of students with disabilities in public schools, permitting force only in emergencies where a student poses an immediate threat of serious bodily injury, according to Justia Law. Separately, Nevada Revised Statutes Section 392.4633 bars corporal punishment against any student in the state's public schools altogether.

CCSD says it will place Wynn on paid administrative leave, a status required under the negotiated agreement between the district and its bargaining unit rather than an immediate suspension without pay. The Las Vegas Review-Journal has reported that this arrangement is standard practice across the district whenever an educator faces a criminal misconduct investigation, keeping employees on leave status while law enforcement and district reviews proceed.

Part of a Wider Pattern for CCSD

Wynn's arrest lands amid a string of recent cases involving physical treatment of special education students within the district. In February, a CCSD special education aide at Manch Elementary School was arrested after hallway video captured the aide grabbing and dragging a nonverbal autistic student down a hallway. The district's Board of Trustees is also weighing a $1 million settlement this month over allegations that a substitute struck an autistic student with a shoe, a case that follows a $9.95 million federal settlement tied to physical abuse of a nonverbal autistic student at Harley Harmon Elementary School.

CCSD is the fifth-largest school district in the country, operating more than 360 campuses and serving over 300,000 students, according to EduGuide Henderson. Separate from any criminal case, the Nevada State Board of Education holds independent authority under Nevada Revised Statutes Section 391.330 to suspend or revoke an educator's teaching license for immoral or unprofessional conduct, regardless of how or when the criminal case against Wynn is resolved.