A parolee responsible for an assault in a classroom in the Pierce College Village earlier this month is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Friday, Sept. 27 at the Van Nuys Municipal Courthouse.
Branden Saighe, 27, who is not a registered student at Pierce, is being remanded at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility as he awaits his hearing.
Saighe was arrested Sept. 9 after he confronted another man during a classroom session, causing brief chaos and confusion for students.
“A non-student walked into the classroom, went to the back and threatened to take over the class with a weapon,” Lt. Rod Armalin of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Community College Bureau said in a previous Roundup article.
Saighe was denied any type of leniency at his arraignment on Sept. 18.
He has two prior felony charges, according to Shiara Davila-Morales, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney Public Defender Media Relations Office. Therefore, his future was already looking bleak; even with the availability of services like Real Jobs For Felons, he will face many other barriers when trying to establish a normal lifestyle, even more so with this new charge.
In 2009, he was convicted of forgery and identity theft, according to Davila-Morales, and is currently facing a felony count for criminal threat and one misdemeanor for simple battery.
