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An autistic Florida teen who knocked a school staffer unconscious for threatening to take away his Nintendo Switch has filed a lawsuit against the district, accusing them of failing to meet his needs.
Brendan Depa, 18, was just 17 when he was caught on video pummeling a teacher's aide, Joan Naydich, at Matanzas High School after she requested another teacher take away his gaming console.
Depa was arrested and charged as an adult with aggravated battery on a school employee, a first-degree felony carrying a potential sentence of 30 years behind bars.
The teen filed a request for due process hearing under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act on April 24.
It asks for a determination that Flagler County Public Schools’ actions before and after February 2023 led to the 'violent incident' to which Depa pleaded no contest.
Brendan Depa, 18, has filed a lawsuit against a Florida school district for failing to meet his educational needs after he knocked a school aide unconscious
Surveillance video shows 6'6', 270-pound Depa, who was 17 at the time, knocking Joan Naydich to the ground before kneeling down and punching her in the head and back
Naydich, 59, was subjected to the attack after telling a teacher to take away Depa's Nintendo Switch console, which was distracting him during class
In court documents reviewed by DailyMail.com, the teen's attorneys argue that school employees were aware of his 'disabilities, triggers and problem behaviors,' as well as other incidents where he was disciplined for spitting, shoving an aide, 'harassing and intimidating the school staff' and shouting at one of his teachers.
'It should be noted that the school and staff working with him and the district knew that the electronics, specifically the Nintendo and its use on a school campus was a trigger for escalating behaviors,' the filing reads.
It describes Depa, who stands at 6'6" and nearly 270 pounds, as 'a ticking time bomb' whose needs, despite 'concerns and warnings,' were 'completed disregarded' by the district.
The filing claims the attack on Naydich, a 59-year-old mother of two, was the result of a 'failure to address his needs or have staff around him with the proper training'.
'This incident started with a paraprofessional and the student exchanging words and the student being reprimanded in front of his peers,' the document reads.
'He was punished by being denied his electronic device, even though other students were allowed theirs. The paraprofessional and the teacher began discussing his ability to bring electronics to school, in front of him and in front of his classmates.'
It claims Depa 'attempted to defend himself,' but the staffers 'ignored him and continued to talk about him in front of him and his classmates'.
As the teen grew increasingly upset, he allegedly
