School Trustee’s Son Arraigned in Drug Case

The 19-year-old son of a conservative Orange County school board member was arraigned Tuesday on charges he manufactured methamphetamine with five other men in the garage of the trustee’s home.

Jason Stuart Brooks, son of Cathy Ann Brooks, a trustee of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, was released on his own recognizance after pleading not guilty to charges of manufacturing a controlled substance and possessing a controlled substance.

Jason Brooks was one of six men arrested Saturday night when a Placentia police officer responded to a complaint from a neighbor in the 2000 block of Tweed Street, police said.

The officer “noticed the garage light on and voices coming from inside,” Placentia Police Investigator Corinne Loomis said. “He peeked through a small hole in the garage door and saw six males inside, passing a container with liquid that was bubbling and inhaling fumes from the container.” A second, clear container contained a white substance, Loomis said.

Cathy Ann Brooks, who has been on the Placentia-Yorba Linda school board since 1994, said Tuesday night, “We haven’t gotten a lawyer yet. I don’t want to say anything at this time; we’ve been advised not to.”

The 45-year-old trustee is a member of the Education Alliance, a Tustin-based conservative group that supports selected candidates for school trustee.

In general, those candidates support a back-to-basics approach to education that stresses traditional values instead of multiculturalism, voluntary prayer in schools and abstinence-only sex education programs. The organization grew out of the failed 1993 bid to pass a school voucher initiative.

Brooks is known as one of the more conservative and outspoken members of the Placentia-Yorba Linda school board.

“Family values [are] important to her,” Placentia-Yorba Linda Trustee Karin M. Freeman said. “That’s something she has strong concerns about.”

In a brief interview, a member of the Brookses’ family denied there were any drugs at the house at the time of the arrest.

But Loomis said Jason Brooks, who lives at his parents’ home, was among the six men allegedly inhaling from the container. A neighbor called police after hearing an explosive noise coming from the Brookses’ home.

Also arrested were: Brian Leite, 25, of Fullerton; John Fayette, 19, of Placentia; John Musgrave, 25, of Mira Loma; Todd Schmuck, 18, of Placentia; and Erik Fayette, 23, of Placentia. All six pleaded not guilty Tuesday to identical charges and were released pending a Sept. 11 court date.

Loomis said the operation appeared to be “kind of an amateur lab,” where 8 to 10 ounces of methamphetamine solution and some paraphernalia were found. Also confiscated were a cocaine pipe and several small bottles of pseudo-ephedrine, Loomis said. The chemical is a primary ingredient used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

“It’s unfortunate that this happened,” said fellow school board member Jerry Brakebill, who is also an officer with the Placentia police. “It was brought to my attention yesterday by a member of the community. But I don’t know all the facts behind it.”

Several neighbors, who asked not to be identified, said they often heard noise coming from the Brookses’ home at night, but it did not arouse suspicions.

“I thought it was just a bunch of guys having a good time when their parents weren’t home,” one said.

Residents in the quiet neighborhood added that they were disturbed to learn from police that the drug chemicals and paraphernalia found at the Brookses’ home posed a fire hazard.

“We’re all angry about that,” another neighbor said.

Jason Brooks, the oldest son of seven children in the family, has no criminal record. He graduated from El Camino High School and was attending vocational school, a family member said.

Several of the other suspects, however, have been convicted of previous drug charges, according to court records. Leite was sentenced to three years’ probation and 10 days in jail for two drug offenses in July 1995. He also was charged with attempted burglary in 1993 and a weapons charge is pending against him, court documents show.

Separate drug charges are also pending against Fayette and Musgrave. Musgrave was also convicted in 1993 for possession of stolen property, court records show.

Also contributing to this report were Times staff writers Martin Miller and Anna Cekola.