By Mary O’KEEFE

The man initially arrested on trespassing charges after he caused a lockdown at Crescenta Valley High School on Wednesday, Feb. 1 was arrested again on Feb. 3. He was in court on Tuesday facing two counts. The first count was for possession of child (individual under the age of 18) pornography and the second count was criminal threats.

At his arraignment in front of Judge Terry Smerling, Brandon Santora, 42, pled not guilty to each charge. His bail was set at $90,000; he was remanded to authorities and his preliminary trial is set for Feb. 23.

On Feb. 1, Santora entered Crescenta Valley High School without following proper check-in procedures and carrying a large duffel bag. He had no reason to be on campus, did not check in after being told to and apparently left the campus after about a half an hour. Though he was on the campus a short time, CVHS staff was concerned what he could have left behind, if anything.

Glendale Unified School District held a webinar on Tuesday night to discuss the facts of the incident. After reviewing the surveillance footage from the school and speaking to staff and students GUSD shared the timeline of the Feb. 1 incident.

The suspect entered the school campus at 7:54 a.m. and exited, according to camera surveillance, at 8:31 a.m.

He walked around the campus and was seen speaking to a few adults and students. According to witnesses, he asked one person for directions to the bathroom, and then asked about how teachers take attendance.

The school’s librarian is the person who noticed he did not have the proper identification. She told him to go to the office and then notified the office.

At about 8:45 a.m. the school resource deputy was notified and he, along with staff members, began searching the campus for Santora.

Santora did not go to office but later left the campus via the gate near the swimming pool and music room exiting onto Ramsdell Avenue.

Staff checked with teachers to see if anyone had a guest speaker who matched Santora’s description.

At 11 a.m. it was decided by the district as a precautionary step to implement a shelter-in-place. During a shelter-in-place instruction can continue. A lockdown is when a threat is more serious.

At 11:30 a.m. a full lockdown was implemented. The district explained this measure was taken because during the less restrictive shelter-in-place students were still walking in the hallways and out of their classrooms.

More deputies arrived on campus at 12:15 p.m. They continued searching the campus for anything the suspect could have left behind, and also wanted to make certain he was no longer on the property.

An incident command center was set up away from the campus. A little after 1 p.m. students were moved out of the school to the parking lot at Highlands Church at the corner La Crescenta and Community avenues.

The search continued by sheriff deputies of the campus and throughout the community. A tip was received that Santora was at the Starbucks in the 3500 block of Foothill Boulevard. He was arrested for trespassing.

During the webinar numerous questions were asked and answered, as well as GUSD and CVHS staff sharing more information on what happened, lessons learned and what will be done differently in the future.

Principal Christine Benitez said on any given day the CV campus is very busy. Walk-on coaches, guest speakers, adult members of clubs and others often visit the school.

“We do have systems in place,” she said of the check-in procedures.

But she added that there are lessons to be learned from the Feb. 1 incident including ensuring all teachers and staff, including substitute teachers, wear their identification badges that were issued last year. The staff looked at how easy it was to access the campus in the mornings when multiple gates were open. In the future, beginning immediately after the Feb. 1 incident, there will be fewer access points onto the campus and the gates that are open will be monitored. The times for security guards have been adjusted to fit the on-campus early arrivals.

Benitez added the district’s help should have been asked for earlier on the day of the incident. The school’s safety committee will review what happened on Feb. 1 and make suggestions for future safety  improvements, she said.

During the webinar there was talk that CVHS is an open campus, one of the few in the state, and how that will be looked at in the future. Superintendent Dr. Vivian Ekchian has and will continue to reach out to stakeholders to discuss how to make the campus safer.

The questions that were directed to the CV Sheriff’s Station Captain Robert Hahnlein and his deputies/detectives included why they could not hold Santora in custody longer on Feb. 1. He was arrested about 3:45 p.m. and released about 6:45 p.m.

Hahnlein said at the time Santora could only be arrested on a trespassing charge, which is a misdemeanor. However, Santora continued to be investigated. Through the investigation and tips from community members the second arrest was made on two felony counts.

Detectives are continuing their investigation into the suspect’s past. Social media had released the suspect’s image alongside a composite of a suspect regarding a sexual assault/rape at CV Park on Dec. 12, 2021. It was suggested that Santora was the same person; however, CV detectives said that was not the case.

“We looked at that and we determined that was not the same person,” a detective said.

To watch the webinar, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFDDh1vpezk.