Edhat Staff
Dos Pueblos High School baseball field (Photo: Facebook)
By edhat staff
A lawsuit alleges Dos Pueblos High School baseball players tricked a teammate into eating a contaminated doughnut during a sponsored spring break trip, reports KEYT News.
The lawsuit was filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court last month claiming that while on in Rancho Cucamonga last March, two boys collected foreign substances from members of the team into a cup to “lather it onto a doughnut.” At least seven former members of the baseball team tricked a teammate into eating the doughnut that had been contaminated with “a potentially harmful foreign organic substance from their own bodies.”
The plaintiff in the lawsuit allegedly took bites of the doughnut without realizing what had been done to it.
The lawsuit continues to claim there were multiple hazing events during the trip at an Ontario hotel and that coaches and chaperones were out drinking instead of enforcing bed checks and curfew.
KEYT reports the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office was contacted to avoid any potential conflict of interest as the Goleta high school’s resource deputy is also the head baseball coach. The Sheriff’s Office conducted interviews and handed the case to the County District Attorney’s Office and also the Ontario Police Department. All decided not to file criminal charges.
The case came up again in February when the Sheriff’s Office reconducted interviews after learning two of the former players had told teammates not to cooperate with the original investigation. The District Attorney’s Office decided again not to file criminal charges, reports KEYT.
The plaintiff wants to be financially compensated, according to the April lawsuit, for emotional distress that stem from the incident. The Santa Barbara Unified School District and members of the baseball team allegedly involved in the incident are listed as defendants.
LINK: https://www.sbcourts.org/os/ind/civil-parties.php?CasNum=19CV02244 ……
04/26/2019…..19CV02244……Defendant: Darke, Drew……Defendant: Kling, Evan……Defendant: Santa Barbara Unified School District
Students in the rest of the world play sports only in clubs. Friends from Germany and Korea think that our high school sports teams are charming, but they are floored that we spend so much time and money on such endeavors.
at 2:06 – if a kid has the capacity (or lack thereof) to do something that sick and disgusting to another kid, he’s going to do it whether it’s on a road trip, in the gym locker room, at lunch, at prom, or anywhere kids are kids. I really doubt being on a baseball tournament road trip was the cause of this. Stop blaming sports and start blaming the awful kids (and parenting) that causes this!
One of these kids is an awesome kid with an awesome family. Hard to say he’s awful or his family is.
Hate to say it but SBUSD’s administration is a total failure–I know first hand that they’ve put kids in danger, lied repeatedly to parents, covered up misconduct, and the list goes on.
Matsuoka and Wageneck need to go. Board members get this under control or get out–you can have your political stepping stone position, but you damn well better serve our kids while you’re there.
There is a lot of misinformation in the filing which is driving these news articles. Please keep in mind that this is ONE side of the story, and look at all of the entities that refused to file charges ( denied by 3 District Attorneys). The only reason they were able to file a civil case is because a relative is an attorney. I am not condoning these actions, but please understand that you are only hearing one side of the story before you judge.
I am sure it got denied by 3 district attorneys because there is another side to this story that noone has heard.
I don’t even need to hear another side of the story. This is so foul!!!
Sounds like the doughnut was glazed with something else? Gross
Elected SBUSD school board members appear to be very lax in their fiduciary oversight of district operations, learning about these pattern of multiple and long-standing complaints against district personnel. Where was the school board’s first loyalty – to the school employee unions who supported their election or to the students, parents and residents of this district? The board needs to make a public statement about these reported patterns of transgressions, and how they view their own role in their prevention, remediation or mitigation. But first board members must acknowledge their first duty and responsibility is to district students and parents. From deficient academic scores and now multiple campus climate and conduct problems, we are not being well served by the current nor former elected SBUSD school board members.
Those kids need to be expelled and kicked off the team. Their baseball future should be over.
Never mind, they graduated last year, but wherever they are playing now, they should be kicked off the team if this proves true.
By all means, let those young men keep playing, right? smh……
I’m a parent of student athletes and a huge supporter of youth athletics but this is yet another example of why athletics should be removed from High Schools. Kids want to play sports? Fantastic. Get kids on a traveling or club team. Schools are for academics!
Get rid of the head coach he shouldn’t be coaching if that is what’s going on and why no charges??? Doesn’t make sense!
Another day, another scandal in SBUSD. Kids will be kids, and Administrators insert their heads squarely in the sand.
Agree that sports should be a non school event and that school should be for academics only! With the exception of PE to help keep our kids active they only serve to distract and interfere with learning. We could use that money towards better education for the actual teachers and resources for the schools themselves. This whole thing is so symbolic of our weirdly fanatic sports culture and how so many put these young athletes on a pedestal and let them get away with heiness crap.
Matsuoka needs to go!