Court Date For Couple Accused Of Attacking School Crossing Guard

LANSING (WWJ) - A Lansing couple will be in court next week -- accused of beating up an elementary school crossing guard who was attempting to break up a fight between the couple's son and a classmate.

Shareka McKinney, 29, and Darrell Livingston, 26, face charges of assault and battery and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. They have an April 12th court date on the misdemeanor charges.

Police say the couple drove their 6-year-old son to the school crossing and directed him to attack a 7-year-old classmate who'd been bullying him. When the 6-year-old knocked the other boy down, 73-year-old crossing guard James Thompson intervened, and then was allegedly attacked by Livingston and McKinney.

Livingston told police that Thompson came at him with a knife, but the crossing guard says he was not armed.

The elderly man suffered a chipped front tooth as a result of the beating, he said.

The parents and child then left the scene.

Lansing School District spokesman Stephen Serkaian confirmed the two first-graders attend Lyons Elementary.

"This is a typical schoolboy playground incident that went completely haywire when the parents overreacted in an inappropriate way," he said.