Battery Allegations Against Councilman’s Wife Dropped

The district attorney’s office on Tuesday rejected a misdemeanor battery case the city filed against the wife of Councilman Mark Schoenfeld for allegedly throwing watermelon at him.

“This case does not rise to the level of a criminal action,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Patricia Titus told the court at a pretrial hearing.

Schoenfeld alleged that his estranged wife, Pisanuporn Schoenfeld, threw a tray of cut-up watermelon on the evening of June 18 as he sat on the family room couch, according to a police report.

A friend of the councilman who witnessed the altercation called 911, but when the responding police officers refused to detain Mrs. Schoenfeld, the Councilman placed his wife under citizen’s arrest and she was taken to Hawthorne Police Department jail, the report said.

Mrs. Schoenfeld was released the next day on her own recognizance, said Lt. Jim McInerny, the spokesman for the Hawthorne Police Department. He said that if a person is placed under citizen’s arrest, officers are required by law to take a person into custody if they believe the offense occurred.

Hawthorne City Atty. Glen Shishido filed two counts of misdemeanor criminal assault and battery against Mrs. Schoenfeld in June, then recused himself from the case last week, citing conflict-of-interest issues, and referred the case to the district attorney’s office.