FORMER CALDWELL TEACHER INDICTED IN INJURY TO CHILD CASE
Editor's Note 2/9/22: KWHI has removed Vestal's jail booking photo from the article, as he has been found not guilty of the charge.
Original Story 11/28/19: A former Caldwell ISD employee arrested in May on a child injury charge has been indicted by a Burleson County Grand Jury.
51-year-old Brad Vestal, Caldwell ISD’s former alternative education director, was indicted last week in connection to an incident on the Caldwell ISD campus in March. Vestal, according to the indictment, is accused of pushing a student into a wall.
According to a probable cause statement filed by Caldwell police, Vestal was seen on surveillance video dragging the student, grabbing the front of his shirt, and pushing him out of a door. The student was seen falling backwards and hitting their upper back against an adjacent building.
The statement said when being interviewed by police, Vestal told them he did not mean to hurt the student, and was only attempting to calm him down by putting him outside.
Vestal resigned from the school district on March 27th, and following investigation, turned himself in at the Burleson County Sheriff’s Office in May, by request of the police department. He has since been freed on bond.