Reckless driver enters campus
Suspect punches PSAFE officer in the face
KARISA KAMPBELL / NEWS EDITOR / THE USD VISTA
MARIA WATTERS / ASSOCIATE EDITOR / THE USD VISTA
students living in the Valley were disrupted on Tuesday, April 5, when a reckless driver entered the USD campus and began speeding through the streets, doing donuts outside of Mata’yuum Crossroads. The sound of tires squealing alarmed many students as they began to look out their windows and leave their dorms to figure out what the commotion was.
First-year student Riley Land explained what made her initially leave her room.
“He came over here and he was doing donuts. I heard the tire screeching for at least five minutes,” Land said. “I went to go get food, and I came back and I saw an ambulance and all these cop cars and I asked my friend what happened and she said that he (the suspect) punched a PSAFE officer in the face and made him bleed. And that he is having a mental crisis. He tried to get in the building right there (San Antonio de Padua).”
Chief of Public Safety Chief James Miyashiro further explained what happened leading up to the incident and how the university got involved.
“Originally, this person entered our campus and was driving erratically, with no regard for anybody. He was actually doing burnouts and donuts down over by the resident halls in the valley,” Chief Miyashiro said. “We tried to stop him, he went around one of our units and ended up going down the road to where the seminary is and somehow entered there.”
According to Chief Miyashiro, the reckless driver caused commotion as he was getting detained by the officers.
“He got in there (the lot by the seminary) and started circling. So when we contacted them, they saw drug paraphernalia in his car and he was non-cooperative, he didn’t know where he was and he was refusing to leave,” Chief Miyashiro said. “So the officers attempted to take him into custody for trespassing and other violations. He got combative and actually assaulted one of our supervisors, our sergeants.”
At the time of the interview with Miyashiro, the Public Safety officer who was assaulted was still on leave, but recovering well.
The Vista attempted to obtain a comment from San Diego Police Department (SDPD) officers at the scene, but were referred to their public relations office for information. Due to a criminal complaint being filed against the suspect on behalf of the State of California, SDPD Public Information Officer Lieutenant Adam T. Sharki referred reporters to the San Diego District Attorney’s Office.
Following his removal from campus, the suspect was identified as 28 year old Larry D Doss II. Doss was arraigned on April 8 and pleaded not guilty to one count of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, one count of battery on school employee – inflicting injury— and one count of resisting an officer according to the criminal complaint filed with the Superior Court of California, Country of San Diego Central Division and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office Communications Director, Steve Walker.
These three counts can amount to two felonies and one misdemeanor should Doss be found guilty.
Doss’s preliminary hearing has been set for April 26, 2022, and the case will be handled by Deputy District Attorney Justin Sanek.