FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) – Dawn Owen has a mug shot but she’s not in jail or in the classroom after being charged with assaulting a disabled student at a Fayetteville high school.

CBS North Carolina’s Sheena Elzie went to her house to get her side of the story.

Her husband answered the door and wouldn’t talk about what happened the day officers say Owen assaulted a student at Ramsey Street High School.

But what CBS North Carolina found in court documents raises even more questions.

“Why did it take a month to make an arrest?” asked Elzie.

“Well, it’s not that it took a month, well it did take a month to take the arrest,” said Lt. Sean Swain, spokesman for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the arrest warrant dated Feb. 5, Owen hit a disabled student in the head with a ruler, then grabbed the student by the hair and walked across the classroom.

She wasn’t arrested or charged until March 5.RELATED: Fayetteville teacher charged with assault on handicapped minor at school, warrant says

“It was just a time lapse, it’s not that the children were in any danger or we didn’t have the job done, it was done, it’s just she said she was out of town, and we did attempt to arrest her she just wasn’t at her residence,” said Swain.

The sheriff’s office says Owen has been removed from the classroom in February as soon as the sheriff’s office found out about the claim against Owen.

“We were notified by the school as soon as they saw the incident and we completed the report. Now I don’t know what the time lapse was between the incident happening and us doing the report but she was put on leave as soon as the incident was found,” said Swain.

The school district says Owen has been a special needs teacher at the high school since 2003, but will be on paid leave during this investigation.

The district would not comment any further about the day she was charged with assaulting a disabled student.WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON: