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San Rafael Elementary School (File Photo – pusd.us)
PUSD Superintendent Brian O. McDonald advised PUSD Board Members of an incident on the morning of Sunday, August 14, 2022.
By News Desk
In an email, Superintendent McDonald informed PUSD Board Members that the uniformed head custodian at San Rafael Elementary had been handcuffed, detained and placed on the ground with high power weapons pointed at him by Pasadena police. The response was a result of a call from a neighbor reporting a burglary in process.
Superintendent Brian O. McDonald called the interim chief of police and lodged a complaint. The interim Pasadena Chief of Police, Jason Clawson, promised to conduct an investigation including viewing body-worn camera footage.
Interim Pasadena City Manager Cynthia Kurtz is receiving updates and in communication with Superintendent McDonald. The superintendent will provide updates from the investigation now in process.
Kate Bartlett and Margaret Prietto contributed to this article.
> August 15 – Read: Pasadena Unified Superintendent Statement.
> August 16 – Read Pasadena Officials statements with videos and Police reports.
I know many of the PUSD teachers often go to work in their classrooms on the weekends. I hope they will be safe from being mistaken for intruders.
this has happened also at Washington Elementary school. apparently keys and uniforms arent suffient exculpatory evidence for police. send these blokes back to the academy
Please correct the title of this article. They WRONGLY handcuffed a school custodian.
CLICKBAIT TITLE/HEADLINE. In a neighborhood where the Pasadena Police are OFTEN called on parents for driving in the neighborhood and taking thier kids to school, once again the Police were called. This time for someone WORKING AT THIER JOBSITE! Every year the Police patrol the start of this school year and unfortunately it just got worse this year.
Police are not called often on parents FOR driving in the neighborhood. This is simply not true.
what makes you an expert on the neighborhood around San Rafael Elementary?
School Board Member Scott Phelps, in an email sent to numerous city officials after the incident, asked “when will the police ever change their training and tactics? Let me guess, a wealthy neighbor who like too many residents nearby doesn’t want the public school kids there anyway saw a person of color on the campus? And the police of course responded the way they do to people of color. Nothing has really changed in Pasadena has it?”
As a parent of a San Rafael student, I am disgusted by this incident. Our dedicated custodian was working overtime (in his uniform!) to get the classrooms ready for the students, and put was through a traumatizing ordeal because a nosy neighbor decided to profile him. Please update the headline to indicate that he was wrongfully handcuffed! He is the victim here!
I hope whomever was responsible for calling the police feels horrible.
Considering how this racist city left John Muir high with no air conditioning in its gym forever while it has refurbished the other 2 high schools continuously, this event isn’t surprising.
A Karen almost got another person of color killed for doing his/her job. And the police were only too eager to assist.
Please update this headline to reflect the situation – the Pasadena wrongly handcuffed a local custodian.
Please update this headline to include the word “wrongly” or “mistakenly”
The article is incorrect. The head custodian was working overtime and wearing a PUSD issued uniform. Let’s get the facts straight. Another case where, a Karen sees a latino and assumes the worse, when he’s only trying to work hard and support his family.
The article say in the email from the superintendent that he was a uniformed head custodian.
Thank you for the clarification Glo! These Karens need to be called out for who and what they are — I would like to see their names published and maybe they’ll think twice before calling the Pasadena po-po.