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(School Security) Guard (Rocky) gets jail time for assault |
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AV Press |
| Date Posted: |
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Oct 10, 07 - 5:21 AM |
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aseyoum@avpress.com |
| Where are you from? |
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Antelope Valley |
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Guard gets jail time for assault
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Saturday, October 6, 2007.
By AMIRA SEYOUM
Valley Press Staff Writer
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LANCASTER - Former Quartz Hill High school security guard Andrew "Rocky" Santos was sentenced Friday to 120 days in jail for assaulting Principal Mark Bryant during a discussion in the principal's office over Santos' refusal to pick up trash on campus.
Santos also was ordered to attend 52 sessions of anger management classes, placed on probation for 45 days and ordered to perform 45 days of community service, which will probably involve picking up trash on roadsides.
"The irony is you didn't want to pick up trash, and now it is a condition of your probation," Judge Hayden Zacky told Santos.
Santos' sentence included a credit of 21 days for time he served after his arrest and before his sentencing.
Shackled and wearing a blue jail jumpsuit, Santos offered an apology during his appearance in an Antelope Valley courtroom.
"I am truly sorry for the pain and suffering I have caused Mr. Bryant and his family. I know my actions have caused pain and suffering to many people around me, and I apologize," Santos said.
The judge thanked Santos for his statement and for treating the court with dignity. Zacky called Santos a man who "snapped that day" and acted totally out of character.
"But based on the evidence presented, you caught the principal off guard. Mr. Bryant never had a chance to defend himself," Zacky said.
A separate misdemeanor case in which Santos was accused of threatening another school official he encountered at a charity motorcycle show has been dropped by prosecutors.
Santos is scheduled to return to court April 3 to give Zacky a progress report on his anger management classes and community service.
"I am always willing to work with individuals who make an effort, and I have no doubt in my mind you will. No doubt in my mind," Zacky told Santos. "Once you have successfully completed probation, you can ask the court to expunge this from your record."
Santos, a Quartz Hill High School employee for 18 years, was convicted Sept. 24 of felony battery on a school employee. Bryant testified Santos punched him 30 or 40 times and kneed him about six times after first shoving him backward in his chair.
He said Santos had told him the reprimand for refusing to pick up trash was "personal," which Bryant denied.
Santos testified during his trial he was struck first, though he said he didn't see Bryant swing at him.
"I felt a strike in my right shoulder, my right biceps area. So I responded by punching him in the face, which caused Mr. Bryant to fall into the chair, and then it toppled over," Santos testified.
The assault and Santos' arrest prompted controversy on the Quartz Hill High campus, where Santos had been well-liked by many students. Two students were suspended from school for wearing handmade "Free Rocky" T-shirts after his arrest, drawing the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU sent high school officials a letter calling the suspensions an unconstitutional infringement of the teens' right to free speech.
Santos' trial was attended by Antelope Valley Union High School District officials, including high school board member Donita Winn and Superintendent David Vierra. It was also attended by Santos' supporters.
Before the judge sentenced Santos, he rejected a motion for a new trial that had been filed by defense attorney Jason Rubel.
Rubel claimed the judge had improperly instructed the jury about the meaning of the word "unlawful." Rubel also stated new evidence had turned up after the trial.
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