PITTSBURGH -- A parent accused of punching two school employees in Brighton Heights earlier this month will go to trial.

According to police, Taru Davis, 40, walked into John Morrow Elementary School on Feb. 16, saying he wanted to take his 7-year-old son out of school, because another student was bullying him.

Police said Davis did not follow protocol for removing his son from school and began wandering the halls, at which point he was confronted by the school's principal, Dr. Annette Scott Piper, and her aide, Betty Huguley.

During his preliminary hearing on Tuesday, Davis said he has new plans for his son.

"Home school. Public schools are a joke," Davis said.

Police said Davis got into a verbal altercation with Piper before punching her and then Huguley.

Piper testified on Tuesday that Davis punched her in the face and grabbed her by the blouse and slammed her to the floor. She said she hit her head on the floor and "saw stars."

Piper said Davis continued to punch her in different parts of her body multiple times and only stopped when the other school employee came into the hall to try to pull Davis off of her.

She suffered a contusion on her lower back, a lump on her side and a knot on her head, she said.

According to Piper, about 400 students go to the school and some were already in the hallway getting ready for dismissal, and they could not be shielded from what was happening.

Huguley cried during parts of her testimony. She said she looked through a glass panel on a classroom door and saw Davis on top of Piper, punching her.

Huguley said she ran into the hallway to break it up, which is when Davis punched her in the face, which caused her to urinate on herself.

Huguley said she then exchanged punches with Davis before he fled the scene.

Davis turned himself in after initially fleeing from police.

"I think his purpose was to take his son for medical treatment after school," said defense attorney David Cercone. "That's why he was there to pick his son up."

"Taru's not like that," said Davis' father, Dan Davis Jr. "Something had to have provoked him."

Davis is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, one count of criminal mischief and one count of defiant trespass.