OCC seeks permanent restraining order against ex-student arrested in swastika and ‘N-word’ carving

Robert Bouton McDougal was dissatisfied with the B he received on a chemistry exam in February at Orange Coast College. The 21-year-old wanted an A.

In his quest for a higher mark, school officials say, the student at the Costa Mesa campus began incessantly emailing instructor Amy Hellman seeking to retake the exam, this time with help from a calculator. Hellman declined, according to transcripts of emails filed in Orange County Superior Court in March.

A week after the exam, school officials say, McDougal — who had dropped the course — barged into the classroom while other students were present.

Those and other incidents led McDougal to be arrested twice and prompted the college to pursue a restraining order against him.

In one case, he was arrested March 13 on suspicion of carving a swastika and the “N-word” into the hoods of two OCC security vehicles.

Superior Court Judge Michael McCartin granted a temporary restraining order against McDougal in March and extended it on Tuesday. A hearing on a permanent restraining order is scheduled for next Tuesday.

On March 7, McDougal was suspended from all Coast Community College District facilities until March 2019, according to college officials.

In an email to district officials March 8, McDougal wrote in part: “Haha u guys are not doing a very good job at keeping me from going to class, are you? So laughable. It’s so easy for me to find my seat and take lecture notes like the diligent student I am. I just got over an hour of marketing notes tonight for the exam next week. You guys need to try harder.”

In late April, college officials warned students and staff members to be on the lookout for McDougal. As of Wednesday, there hadn’t been any recent sightings of him on campus, OCC spokesman Juan Gutierrez said. But the chemistry building is still being patrolled by campus safety officers and signs are still posted in the area urging students to report any suspicious behavior.

John Christl, an attorney representing McDougal, said Thursday that the college could have handled the situation differently.

“This problem stems from a minor school exam that the teachers and faculty mishandled,” Christl said. “The school was aware of Robert’s condition and they failed to provide adequate service to resolve a minor issue. They went to the extreme.”

Christl did not elaborate about McDougal’s condition. When McDougal was suspended in March, a letter from Orange Coast College told him he would need mental health clearance before being allowed back on campus.

College officials decided to pursue the restraining order after McDougal’s series of emails to Hellman over three days asking for extra credit or to retake the exam with a calculator because some long-division problems took up a lot of his time.

In an email dated Feb. 26, McDougal said: “Gosh if I have to wait until next semester to take this class all over again and wait that long to take the quiz with a calculator and get [extra credit] for oral presentations, I will probably break the record for longest time gone without sleep, it’ll be like 6 or 12 months straight with no sleep.”

Two days later, McDougal ran into Hellman’s class and “created a major disruption” that brought a response from campus safety officers and the college’s dean of mental health services, officials wrote in court documents.

Security officers escorted McDougal out of the building, but when they weren’t looking, he ran back inside and sprinted in circles around the classroom, according to a Costa Mesa police report. Security officers used pepper spray to subdue McDougal after he kicked them, the report states.

“He did not think he did anything wrong,” the report says.

McDougal was charged with disturbing the peace of a school campus and two counts of battery against a school employee, all misdemeanors. He pleaded not guilty in April and is due in court Monday for a pretrial hearing, according to court records.

Charges have not been filed in the swastika carving case.

Staff writer Hannah Fry contributed to this report.

Priscella.Vega@latimes.com

Twitter: @vegapriscella