The man, identified by Berkeley police as a 61-year-old Richmond resident and by the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) as one of its employees, was arrested February 16 on charges of lewd conduct and annoying or molesting a minor. The district referred members of the school community to several safety resources in response to the arrest and identified student safety as a “top priority” as authorities’ investigation into the incident moves forward.
According to Berkeley police, officers with the department’s bike unit were notified by an official at Sylvia Mendez Elementary School that a vehicle was circling the campus on Wednesday afternoon. The same vehicle was believed to have circled the campus 10 or more times previously, police said.
The campus’ school resource officer told police the vehicle was believed to be the same one in which a man was previously spotted “possibly masturbating outside of Sylvia Mendez Elementary school in January,” according to a Thursday news release from the Berkeley Police Department.
Police said they located the vehicle parked near the school and arrested the driver.
Officers “found several items of concern—including a hunting-style knife, gloves, duct tape, and a bundle of zip ties” inside the vehicle, Berkeley police said.
In a Thursday letter addressed to members of the school district community, BUSD Superintendent Brent Stephens said school officials had reported the individual to police earlier this year. It was after the man’s arrest this week that BUSD officials discovered he was employed by the district, the letter said.
Stephens did not name the employee in his letter but wrote the man was employed as “a custodian at Rosa Parks Elementary School and has been substituting at other BUSD campuses during this school year.”
The employee had also previously worked as a custodian at the elementary school where he was arrested, Stephens added.
A BUSD spokesperson told Newsweek the man had been working at the district as a custodian since October 2018.
“Like all employees, his fingerprint background check was cleared through the Department of Justice prior to his beginning his employment,” the spokesperson said.
“District staff called the police in January 2021, due to a suspicious individual who had been seen on more than one occasion in a car outside of Sylvia Mendez Elementary School,” the spokesperson added. “The police asked the staff to call immediately if they saw the car again, which is what happened yesterday.”
The man was placed on leave and will not work at any district facilities until police are finished investigating the incident, the superintendent’s letter said. Police told district officials that the man was not in custody as of Thursday, Stephens wrote, and officers encouraged district staff members to report suspected sightings of the man or his vehicle to school principals and police if he is believed to be spotted near any of the district’s schools.
Police and BUSD also encouraged anyone with information regarding the employee’s alleged actions to contact the Berkeley Police Department’s Youth Services Unit.
