Costa student arrested for alleged campus assault

by Paul Teetor

Senior Charles De Torres is a former member of the school decathlon team.

A Mira Costa High School senior was arrested Wednesday March 21 for allegedly making criminal threats and assaulting another student on school grounds. Several knives were confiscated at the time of the arrest.

Charles De Torres, 18, was unable to post $200,000 bail and remained incarcerated in the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles as of Tuesday afternoon.

The arrest was the most serious of several safety-and-security incidents that have school officials on edge after the recent spate of California school shootings.

School Board Member Lynette Campbell said Tuesday that the schools will be sending out letters to parents detailing the recent incidents at Mira Costa and one at the Manhattan Beach Middle School.

"There were several incidents that prompted this letter," Campbell said. "We want parents to know that it is no longer OK to make threats and then say you were only kidding. Student safety is an issue that we take very seriously, and we’re going to be very proactive in dealing with anything that could escalate into a danger to students."

Mira Costa officials declined to comment on the specifics of De Torres’ arrest, saying they were bound by student confidentiality rules. But they insisted the Mira Costa campus is safe.

"We have a total of something like 13 or 14 security officers, with six or seven working on the campus at any given time," Vice Principal Herb Hinsche said. "And we always have the school resource officer, who helps with safety and security issues."

Officer Tim Hageman, Mira Costa’s school resource officer, said the most serious case began March 2 when De Torres, while at a band performance on the Mira Costa campus, allegedly threatened to kill two girls.

"He grabbed one of the girls by the hands and bent them backward, then he pushed her up against the wall," Hageman said.

Hagemen became involved on March 7,after De Torres allegedly grabbed one of the girls by the arm.

"When another girl tried to intervene and asked him to stop, he said, in essence, ‘If you don’t shut up, I’m going to kill you,’" Hageman said.

The girl managed to walk away without further incident, Hageman said, but later in the day De Torres allegedly tried to grab her again and threatened to "gut" her. The girl subsequently reported the incident to the campus officer.

Hageman said he discovered a Swiss Army-style knife in De Torres’ possession and began an investigation.

"We started doing interviews, and then we arrested him the following Tuesday, March 13, on the felony charge of making criminal threats and the misdemeanor charge of assault and battery on school property," Hageman said.

De Torres was then released after posting a 10 percent bond to meet his $50,000 bail.

The case was then referred to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, which asked a judge to issue a search warrant for his house and an arrest warrant.

Hageman carried out the search warrant at De Torres’s Redondo Beach home on Wednesday March 21 with his parents watching.

"We recovered various types of knives, and then arrested him on the arrest warrant," Hageman said.

A judge then set a new bail of $200,000, which De Torres was unable to meet.

A preliminary hearing for De Torres is scheduled April 5 at 9:30 p.m. in Torrance Superior Court. ER