A Santa Maria man employed by the Lompoc Unified School District was arrested and fired after footage showing him abuse a special needs student on a school bus was turned over to investigators.
According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, the video shows the districts recent hire, 52-year-old Arthur Carlos, use “excessive force to restrain the child, including putting his hands around his neck and pushing his head against the bus window.” The 10-year-old student came home crying to his parents, who reported what their son said to the district, Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover told the Sun.
“The school got the surveillance video from the bus and they were able to identify who the employee was,” Hoover said. “He had only been there, working for the school district, several days.”
The incident occurred on Oct. 16, and Carlos voluntarily visited the Sheriff’s Office to provide a statement on Oct. 25, when we has arrested for “corporal injury upon a child.” Lompoc Unified issued a statement on Oct. 26, announcing that Carlos was terminated as a district employee.
Carlos was held at the Santa Barbara County Jail with a $50,000 bail.
The Sheriff’s Office was able to move forward with the arrest thanks to the video evidence, Hoover explained. After reviewing the video, Sheriff’s detectives found the incident could be classified as a specific use of “unlawful force” against a minor, she explained.
“Not only was it a child, but a special needs child, only 10 years old, so the Sheriff’s Office took that case seriously and did a thorough investigation,” Hoover said.
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2018.
