Ferndale student confronts teacher with lighter

Student studying Salem witch trials confronts teacher with lighter BY BILL LAITNER • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • October 8, 2008 A day after asking a teacher if she was a witch or believed in witchcraft — following a history lesson on early-America’s Salem witch trials — an adult-education student tossed a liquid on a teacher, then pulled out a cigarette lighter, police said. Police said Darin Najor, 20, of Ferndale assaulted the teacher on Sept. 11 at Taft Education Center, the district’s school for alternative and adult education. The class had been studying the widely taught 1953 play by Arthur Miller called “The Crucible,” which is based on the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692, said Ferndale Public Schools spokeswoman Stephanie Hall. The teacher told Najor “she did not believe in witchcraft” on the day before he splashed... [read full story]