Principal Jailed for Hitting Student With Truck

A Catholic high school principal was sentenced to 15 days in jail and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine for running his truck into a 13-year-old former student whom the principal had previously expelled.

Marian Catholic High School Principal Richard Haber was sentenced Monday before Municipal Court Judge Terry J. Scott. Haber also was placed on three years’ probation, ordered to perform 30 days of community work and continue counseling.

Haber was charged after former Marian pupil Christian Barraza suffered a leg injury when he was hit by the truck April 29. A jury convicted Haber last month of reckless driving, while acquitting him of assault charges.

Haber had previously kicked Barraza out of Marian for poor grades and unruly behavior, and ordered him to stay away from the campus.

Witnesses testified that, when Barraza later appeared on campus, Haber chased him in his truck after exchanging words in a campus parking lot.

Haber said he went after the boy after deciding he was going to make a citizen’s arrest for trespassing.

Witnesses said Haber chased Barraza from one end of the street to another. They said he yielded only after he hit the boy, who had been trying to ride away on his bicycle.

Defense attorney John Phillips had argued against jail time for Haber because he feared it would be used by the San Diego Catholic Diocese to dismiss him from his post of three years.

Scott said that he did not intend to have Haber dismissed from his job but that jail time was warranted because of the seriousness of the offense.

“This is one of the most extreme forms of reckless driving that I’ve seen,” Scott said.