PITTSFIELD, Maine — A senior at Maine Central Institute was intoxicated at the school and punched a teacher in the face on Friday afternoon, police said.
Zackery Valente, 18, of Pittsfield admitted to drinking a beer and consuming whiskey he had mixed with soda in a soda bottle, said Pittsfield police Officer Marty Cochran. Police got the call at 1:31 p.m.
“One of the teachers approached him about it and he got defensive,” said Cochran. “[Valente] approached his vehicle, but he said he wouldn’t drive. The teacher took his keys and that made him upset. They were kind of holding onto him. He did punch the teacher in the face.”
Cochran didn’t release the identity of the teacher, but said the teacher didn’t press charges.
“He calmed down pretty quickly and we brought him in,” said Cochran, adding that Valente blew a .09 on the breathalyzer test for alcohol consumption.
Valente was charged with illegal possession of liquor by a minor through consumption, which is a civil violation with no jail time.
Cochran said he didn’t know if Valente drove while drinking or when he got the alcohol.
“He wouldn’t tell me where he got [the beer] from,” said Cochran. “He seemed like a pretty good kid. He calmed way down when he came [to the police station].”
Valente’s mother took him home, he said.
Cochran said he doesn’t think students drinking alcohol at MCI is a trend.
“As far as alcohol-related incidents at the school, it’s pretty rare,” he said.
Nice, 18. no juvie court for you.
it is only pretty rare that they get caught doing it . thats what it should say here
so true, or they get caught, but it is hush hush
Seems to me that not pressing charges condones the behavior. Your not doing him favors by not, as other students are watching the consequences.
He’ll get $100 fine. It’d be a cold day in Haiti before I’d let a kid get away with punching me in the face. Who is this kid connected to, to get away with this crap?
“He seemed like a pretty good kid.” Yes–MOST pretty good kids come to school intoxicated and punch teachers . . .
They’ll surely be a detailed investigation to determine what it was that the teacher/teachers did to cause this poor young man to both get drunk and then strike the teacher who was clearly confronting him in an aggressive manner. Yes, that’s sarcasm.
I’m thinking administration will recommend some de-escalation training for this teacher to bring him in line with current administrative educational policy of ignoring all misbehavior or threats to the “Tranquility of Failure” they hold so dearly to their hearts. They simply can’t allow a teacher to intrude on the free will of a student. The poor child might become uncomfortable within the educational setting if he’s not allowed to express himself in whatever way that’s most comfortable for him. Worse yet, his parents might get mad and say bad things about administration. No, no we can’t have that. Like any school administrator will tell you, “Everything’s good in our schools, nothing to see or learn here.” On that point, I’m in perfect agreement.
Never know. Teacher might have been in the wrong too.
Of course! That’s why the incident needs to be FULLY investigated and new training administered. Otherwise sometime in the future students might actually come to be held accountable for the things they say and do while at school. Let’s open this teacher up to see what makes him tick. If we can find what makes him think he’s responsible for protecting this boys life and not letting him do as he please we can cut it out of him, cast it aside and thus protect the current state of failure within our schools. You and I have a good plan there Mr. Bush.
Indeed.
This whole scenario would have been unthinkable when I attended MCI. Parents and students both I’m afraid were different back then. I don’t recall any incidents at all during my stay there.
it must have been quite awhile ago that you attended…now drugs are prevalent, but you don’t hear about it as they handle it inhouse…unlike other schools that report drug offenses to the local police, MCI is above that, keeps with their superior, perfect image….only it is not so perfect. Some schools have police on duty in the schools and they handle the drug/alcohol problems.
Too bad the teacher declined to press charges. To bad the teacher didnt have to defend himself a little and run a tune up on the derelicts face.
Probably wasn’t sure if the kid was 18 yet ! You know assualt on a minor……
Assault, by an adult in skrewl (teacher victim won’t file charges)…coddle, coddle, coddle
Actually, the teacher probably fears for his/her job, and doesn’t want the public attention.
DOUBT IT
Id file charges in a New York minute.
MOMMY! Come get me!
Why didn’t he call Daddy?
read this article then at the bottom read the one about students from there getting in a accident name sound familar….maybe alcohol was a factor just saying
Good catch, but I am sure they tested his blood.
lets see how many more times his name comes up in the next couple of months ,years, for more incidents………I just bookmarked this page so i can link back to it in the future
” Zackery Valente, 18, of Pittsfield”
Good for you. Clearly time well spent.
I like your screen name. Best band ever!
Yea, thats what I was thinking “Machinehead” no “Glycerine”.
If you only knew.
At the bottom of this article, click on the
“Two MCI students in fair condition after dramatic Pittsfield crash” link…
I read the article. Twice. Once again after reading your comment. How do you think the writer “implies that the kid was being held and the teacher took a hand to the mouth” ? The quote clearly says “He DID punch the teacher in the face.” Given the information that we have, that is quite an inference that you make. It’s astounding how accepting of the situation you are as well. An eighteen year old man shows up drunk and becomes violent and belligerent. This school contains teenagers as young as 14. A simple forced apology is not nearly enough. People have to learn to face the consequences for their actions.
Teachers have to put up with a lot of crap and get paid with it.
I don’t hear any complaints in June, July, August, 4th week December, 3 rd week Feb, April break etc., etc. etc.
You are wrong, they don’t “HAVE’ to put up with anything, they make that choice. Any job has requirements. They choose to “put up” with working 180 days a year with summers off.
I respect teachers but they love their gig as they should.
you have no clue what teachers really put into the job…
mmmmmmmm, actually more than you I am certain.
then you must be jealous
You know that teachers don’t get paid for any of those weeks you listed, right? But thanks for playing.
Wrong.
school is still going on in June and starts towards the end of August. Teachers still need to keep up credits by attending workshops, etc, usually in the summer. And yes, teachers do have to “put up” with alot, be it unruly, disrespectful students, incessant demands by administrators to meet numerous guidelines, irate parents who only get involved when their child is hanging by a thread, etc. There are workshop days before school starts and after it ends. You may say you respect teachers, but your words speak otherwise.
Don’t have kids.
Done, raised and very successful. The best part is they are not anti American entitled liberals.
This kid is 18, he made a mistake. Some of you act like you think he should be put away for good. For pete’s sake, yeah he made a dumb decision, but the punishment should fit the crime.
“This kid is 18, he made a mistake”
He made at least three mistakes, Underage drinking,intoxicated, assault, He showed no remorse by protecting the identity of an adult criminal provider who likely buys and will continue to buy booze for underage minors. Then there is the question, was he driving with a 09 alcohol impaired. ‘BUT He was a good kid at the police station’. But of course he was.
Every other day in the Bangor Daily Newspaper , sometimes twice a day, there is yet, one more story of teenagers killing themselves and their passengers and innocent people., drunk diving and speeding. One was stopped, at least this time. But the other poster was right, couple of months , a year down the road, this story will be revisited with a follow up story.
The last time this “kid” made a “mistake” he came very close to killing someone, and here we are again calling him a ” pretty good kid” and letting him walk with a slap on the wrist.Unbelievable.
Pretty much what I said but my comment got flagged. Oh well.
Too many people on this board are well…they know.
This kid has got to be connected to some serious cash ! I just read that article about his car crash last September. A good kid he might be but a good learner he’s not !
he may have PTSD after sustaining a head injury in the wreck last summer/fall.
“As far as alcohol-related incidents at the school, it’s pretty rare,” he said.
That’s a good one, drug and alcohol related incidents are frequent, esp drugs, but they don’t get reported to keep the school’s pristine image intact…and that includes being under the influence of drugs AND possession of drugs….
Wouldn’t it be better for those affected (including other students) if these comments focused first on helping Zack and his family deal with an obviously difficult situation instead of scapegoating all sorts of people, the school, its administration, and Cianbro?
Anonymous incendiary comments like these are worse than what happened to begin with.
so there should be no accountability? By the school’s failing to make a big deal out of CRIMINAL actions, whether it be violence, alcohol or drugs, it condones these actions by the students.
MCI is private. That teacher may have zero job protection IF he ever filed charges….just saying it might be a possibility as I am not sure if there is a union there or not. If a kid ever hit me at school, charges would be filed…period.
mommy goes to pick up her 18 yearold male adult son. Something about that just isn’t right, sucha good manchild !
some people make bad decisions and have to pay the consequences…move on.
Most people that read todays newspapers are 100 years old. You can tell by the posts that demographic is true here. Lol.
wonder if he will be punished by parents?
A kid that gets into a car accident. An ACCIDENT and gets blamed for almost killing someone… Anyone of you could have been in the same situation. Tell me none of you havent made a mistake? Leave it alone and go find something to do with your “grownup” life. And go praise your “perfect” kids.
Think about the profile of most people that post on this site and that will explain their tolerance for “being young and stupid”.
Their kids are the ones that end up messed up the most they are just too blind to see it.
would you feel the same if he had injured or killed someone you love in this speeding accident? I don’t think anyone on here is saying their child is perfect. Seems like two strikes for this young man for now.
.09=3 beers. Ohhhhh, ahhhhhhhh, hardened criminal.