Carlsbad mom arrested for assault of Sunset Elementary staff, resisting arrest
A Carlsbad mother who allegedly assaulted school employees last year was arrested Monday after evading police for more than three months.
Victoria Terrazas, 42, was arrested on two charges of assaulting a school employee, and single count of larceny of $250 or less. During her arrest, Terrazas was also charged with resisting, evading or obstructing an officer and failing to obey traffic signs.
A warrant on the initial charges was issued for Terrazas' arrest on Dec. 6, 2023, but was not served until her recent arrest.
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Police said officers attempted to pull over Terrazas at about 8 a.m. March 18 when she accelerated at a “high rate of speed,” read a criminal complaint.
She was pursued by police as she drove to her home in the 900 block of Edwards, telling officers she planned to surrender but wanted to bring her children home first, the complaint read.
Terrazas resisted police while they attempted to put handcuffs on her, read the report, but she was arrested and taken into custody and booked at about 9 a.m. at the Eddy County Detention Center. She was released at about 4 p.m. the next day.
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The initial charges against Terrazas stemmed from an incident on Nov. 27, 2023 at Sunset Elementary School and a meeting with school officials to discuss Terrazas’ daughter’s behavior.
Police said the girl, a student at Sunset, got into an argument with other students and drew a knife on a piece of paper and told them “Now or later,” read the criminal complaint.
A behavioral analysis known as a threat “threat assessment” was conducted on the girl, which involves interviewing all students involved and their parents. To that end, Terrazas was contacted by school officials for a meeting at Sunset.
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Terrazas texted a school employee to cancel the scheduled meeting, the complaint read, but officials still held a meeting with the daughter and decided to take away her lunch break privileges for the rest of the week.
Later that day after school was over, Terrazas reportedly showed up at the school angry at the punishment, the complaint read.
A school official said they tried to discuss the matter with Terrazas in an office, but she was “uncooperative” and “up in her face,” read the complaint. School staff called the police, and Terrazas allegedly grabbed the threat assessment documents, pushed an employee out of the way against a door frame and left the building.
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School staff and teachers who said they heard the altercation provided written statements to law enforcement backing up the story, the complaint read. Terrazas later told police she tried to leave the meeting but was not allowed by the employees and denied pushing anyone.
Police also reviewed the dispatch call and could hear staff telling Terrazas not to push an employee and that she could not have the documents, read the complaint.
Terrazas was arraigned on the charges March 19 and pleaded not guilty to all five counts. She was scheduled for a pretrial hearing April 24 on the assault charge before Carlsbad Magistrate Judge Megan Fish.
A pretrial hearing on the resisting arrest charge was planned for April 30 before Magistrate Judge Kelly Calicoat.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Carlsbad mom arrested for assault of staff at Sunset Elementary
