Pico Rivera : El Rancho Principal’s Trial on Battery Delayed a Month
Prosecutors were granted a delay this week in a trial against a Pico Rivera high school principal accused of battery.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert J. Hale said he requested the delay because a sheriff’s deputy who witnessed the scuffle between El Rancho High School Principal David Verdugo and video store manager Michael Acosta was unavailable to testify. The trial was rescheduled for Oct. 26.
Verdugo, 42, faces trial on a misdemeanor battery charge after a Feb. 9 dispute with Acosta outside the high school campus.
Acosta said he and two friends were distributing flyers advertising his video store when the papers were confiscated by a school administrator. A dispute followed, and Acosta said the principal confronted him, grabbed him from behind and threw him to the ground.
Verdugo said he was trying to restrain Acosta after the young man became hostile and refused to leave the campus.
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