Two weeks after a man accused the Katy (Texas) school superintendent Lance Hindt of bullying him when the two were in high school years ago, a judge in Alabama has come forward with similar allegations about Hindt.
The Houston Chronicle reports that Circuit Judge David Carpenter of Alabama's 10th district says Hindt was a "vicious bully" when the two attended Taylor High School in the Katy district in 1982.
"He was physically threatening some of my teammates, just menacing them, standing over them and eventually started throwing weight plates at them, 25-pound weight plates at them," Carpenter says. "He liked to brag about beating up other people and at one point he even bragged about beating up a police officer."
Hindt has drawn national scorn after Greg Barrett, a Katy-area businessman, addressed a Katy school board meeting on March 19 and accused Hindt of bullying him when the two were classmates some 30 years ago.
Barrett alleges that Hindt beat him up in the restroom at school. Hindt has since issued a statement saying he didn't remember Barrett and that the claim of bullying "simply isn't true."
Hindt has sent a letter a letter to all Katy district employees apologizing for all the attention these accusations have created.
"It is unfortunate that half-truths, viral videos, edited tape, false statements, and gotcha moments are a part of our modern mainstream news and social media culture," Hindt wrote. "Although I do not believe the attacks on our great school district, our school board or me are over, I remain steadfast in my commitment to Katy ISD."
A former Katy student Nitant Patel, 19, has since started a Change.org petition calling for Hindt's firing.
The petition, which also references a 1983 lawsuit contending that Hindt, when he was 18, severely beat another man, has collected more than 3,100 signatures. Fox26 Houston reports that Hindt admitted in a deposition that he hit the man and left him unconscious.
The victim says he received a five-figure payment to settle the lawsuit.
A competing petition with the title "We, the community within Katy ISD, support our Superintendent Dr. Lance Hindt" has also been started on Change.org.
The purpose of that petition it to show "the school board and employees of Katy ISD that we strongly support Dr. Hindt and we know that he is the person that needs to sit in his current position of Superintendent," it states. So far it has collected 1,700 signatures.
Hindt became superintendent in Katy in 2016. Before that, he was superintendent of the Allen (Texas) district.
