Former school guard sues after charges dropped for bringing gun on campus
DANIA BEACH, FLA. November 15 2018 A former Dania Beach school security guard is taking legal action to get his job back after he was arrested for bringing a gun on campus.
A judge dismissed the felony charge against former Olsen Middle School security guard, Nathaniel Strowbridge, for bringing a .45-caliber gun onto school property.
He was arrested in Dania Beach on Aug. 15. The charges were later dropped.
Strowbridge sat down with his attorney, Noel Flasterstein, Tuesday to talk about what’s next for him.
“I tried all my life to be the one [to] do the right thing,” Strowbridge said, “and to be determined as mentally unstable and, ‘Oh he got a gun,’ my reputation was really, really damaged.”
Although Strowbridge was charged with having a gun on school grounds, his attorney said the army veteran has a concealed carry permit. The Flasterstein also said the gun was safely stowed away in his client’s 2016 Nissan Rouge.
Flasterstein said Strowbridge was wrongfully charged with a felony, which led the judge to dismiss the charge on Tuesday.
“The Broward County Sheriff’s Office, they knew it was a concealed weapon permit holder,” Flasterstein said. “Why would they arrest him and charge him with a felony when they could have simply charged him with a misdemeanor as the law provides and give him a notice to appear?”
Many at the middle school have shown their support for Strowbridge, who had worked for Broward County Public Schools for two decades.
However, the school board voted last week to fire Strowbridge.
“I would have put my life on the line for the kids because that’s what I was there for,” Strowbridge said. “I wouldn’t have done anything in my life or anything during my time of tenure to hurt the kids or hurt the staff.”
His attorney said they plan to sue Broward County Public Schools for wrongful termination.
“This is a man that’s committed, that’s dedicated, he was done wrong,” Flasterstein said. “Had he violated the law and had they charged him properly, that would be one thing, but here, they went beyond. They overreached in a way that they shouldn’t have.”
No word yet on when the lawsuit could be filed.
7News reached out to the State Attorney’s Office in Broward, but we have not yet heard back.
WSVN
