Teacher allegedly put 5-year-old in headlock at NYC elementary school

A 46-year-old teacher was arrested after allegedly putting a 5-year-old boy in a headlock at an Upper Manhattan elementary school on Monday, police and sources said.

The shocking incident at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Elementary School PS 153 occurred just before 1:30 p.m. and the injured student had to be taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, sources reported.

The teacher, Anthony Wicks, was taken into custody and charged with child abuse, police said.

It is not immediately known what triggered the alleged attack.

He is only the latest educator in the Big Apple to be accused of attacking a teenager in a public school.

In September, a coach at James Madison High School in Brooklyn was charged with assault for allegedly slamming a 14-year-old student's head against the wall of a stairwell.

Coach Nicholas Nugent reportedly became enraged when the victim dozed off during a video meeting.

In March 2023, a 33-year-old teacher at the David N. Dinkins School in Jamaica was arrested for assault for allegedly hitting an 8-year-old student.