Man requests kids’ urine for drug test
by Andrea Ruse
Police arrested a man Tuesday for soliciting students at Pacific Elementary School for their urine.
The 18-year-old Manhattan Beach resident allegedly walked onto the 600-student campus Friday and separately approached two students in the boys’ bathroom, offering to pay them for giving him their urine in a cup.
According to police, the suspect later told authorities that he made the requests in order to pass a drug test.
One of the boys’ mother immediately reported the incident to school officials, who contacted police.
By that time, the suspect had already left the campus, but not before security cameras caught him on tape.
“Fortunately, Pacific School has cameras throughout the campus — of course not in the bathrooms,” said Carolyn Seaton, Assistant Superintendent for Manhattan Beach Unified School. “The cameras were critical and an important piece in aiding in his arrest.”
School officials sent out an email regarding the incident to the parents of all students enrolled at the school, which accommodates kindergarten through fifth grade.
While the incident was still under investigation, the suspect returned to the campus Tuesday, seemingly with the same intention.
“He went there again and was hanging out by a different boys bathroom,” Manhattan Beach Police Detective Sgt. Brian Brown said. “A teacher saw him and reported him.”
School officials detained the suspect until police arrived and arrested him.
Brown said that officials do not believe that any students were physically harmed.
“I actually believe he was doing what he said he was doing,” Brown said. “Because the school was so responsive, we were able to get right on it.”
Brown said that is was an isolated incident.
The teen was sentenced yesterday to 10 days of community service after pleading no contest to one misdemeanor count of failing to register before entering school grounds, according to prosecutors.
“We are glad that we had a positive result, showing that when we all work together, we can resolve the issue quickly,” Seaton said. ER