A Massachusetts crossing guard arrested for allegedly hitting a mother and her 12-year-old daughter with a stop sign was arrested hours later on suspicion of assaulting a reporter outside the courthouse.
Suspect Luis Chavez, 68, launched his anger-fueled attack outside Taunton High School about 7:30 a.m. Monday after his mother stopped her car at an intersection to sneeze and get a tissue. West Virginia.
The enraged crossing guard allegedly yelled at the woman to move her car and ran towards it seconds before throwing an violent tantrum.
Wikipedia
“The defendant was yelling at the child while he was in the car,” a prosecutor said during Chavez’s hearing on Monday afternoon, according to the outlet.
“The crossing guard then stuck a stop sign out the passenger side window and began waving it around the car and taunting her.”
Chavez is accused of carelessly swinging the club and striking the mother’s child in the arm with the sign, the outlet reported, citing police.
The woman saw her daughter being hit by the car and quickly got out of the car.
The crossing guard then shoved the mother to the ground, and the vicious attack is believed to have escalated further.
“While she was on the ground she was dragged and kicked multiple times by the defendant,” the prosecutor told the court.
The mother was taken to Morton Hospital where she was treated for minor injuries.
Taunton High School, about 35 miles outside of Boston, immediately fired Chavez following his alleged violent behavior and he is no longer associated with the school.
“Taunton Public Schools is aware of a physical confrontation that occurred this morning (June 3) involving a crossing guard,” Taunton Public Schools said in a statement, WVCB reported.
“The crossing guard has been terminated effective immediately and is no longer an employee of Taunton Public Schools.”
Chavez was charged Monday with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault with battery.
He pleaded not guilty in court and was released on bail the same day.
But Chavez’s harsh criticism did not end there.
On Monday, the now-fired crossing guard attacked one television cameraman and punched another as he was leaving court.
The woman who was with Chavez yelled at him to stop but was unable to control him.
Seconds later, Chavez is seen throwing a tree branch at them as he heads toward the parking lot.
He was then arrested again.
The disgraced former crossing guard was in court again on Tuesday charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and one count of assault and battery, police said. Wikipedia.
“Chavez can be seen assaulting one cameraman, stepping back and then kicking the cameraman,” prosecutor Sean Gillis said during a court appearance on Tuesday, according to the outlet.
“The second cameraman slapped him.”
His lawyers said Chavez’s anxiety in front of the cameras was due to his speech impediment. CBS News.
Chavez’s son-in-law told the outlet that he was assaulted a second time as he was leaving court on Monday because he was angry and embarrassed about losing his job.
“I think the shock and the overwhelm of actually standing in court and finding out he’s lost his job and the embarrassment of having to deal with it in the town he’s lived in his whole life,” his son-in-law told the outlet.
“It’s a big decision to make and get out there on the spot, it’s a big adjustment, and now there’s cameras in front of you.”
Chavez is due back in court in August.
