By Alicia Rivero
Three Southwestern College employees—including an administrator—confessed to using a forklift to steal a loaded ATM machine from the former Student Center building, then looting it of nearly $10,000.
Grounds manager Juan Chavez, classified employee Efrain Correa and hourly worker Adbon Hernandez-Jimenez all confessed to stealing the ATM and its contents, then tossing the parts of the broken machine into a dumpster behind the Grounds Department. Campus police said all the money was recovered.
Hernandez-Jimenez was immediately
terminated, but Correa remained on the payroll for five months pending his Governing Board-approved resignation on February 28. Chavez, a classified manager and member of the SC administrator’s union, was allowed to retire on Oct. 5, 2022 with full benefits and no sanctions, even though some faculty and classified employees said they told the board and college administration they opposed the plan.
Chavez was initially offered a laudatory governing board proclamation praising his 11-year career at SC, but it was pulled by the governing board, according to College President Dr. Mark Sanchez.
THE ATM THEFT
SC Campus Police records indicate the incident was reported on September 26. Chavez later admitted that he and his partners drove a forklift into the former Student Center and pried loose an ATM for FAFSA recipients that was bolted to the floor. Chavez, Correa and Hernandez-Jimenez then took the ATM to the Grounds Department in the south area of campus where they used a jackhammer heavy college equipment to break it open. College officials said about $9,600 was removed from the ATM, which belonged to a local bank.
Buildings 66A and 67A—the former Cafeteria/Student Union and the Student Center—were scheduled to begin demolition preparation in late last September. Director of Facilities Aurora Ayala directed her staff in a September 22 email to remove and relocate items remaining in the buildings before demolition fencing was installed. Once the area was fenced, she said, access to the buildings would be restricted.
The privately-owned ATM machine was scheduled to be relocated October 4 or October 5. Chavez was included in the message.
Four days later, on September 26, the ATM theft was reported.
The episode launched two immediate actions, according to SC Public Information Officer Lillian Leopold.
“One was a criminal investigation done by the college police and one was our administrative process that was conducted by HR,” she said. “College police collected the evidence and presented all the information to the (San Diego County) District Attorney’s office and then our HR department.”
Leopold said Chavez and Correa were immediately placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, as required by their union contracts.
OTHER UNEXPLAINED ACTIVITIES
Pallets with surplus phones, desktop computers and laptops were also found in the area behind the Grounds Department, though they are usually stored inside the college warehouse prior to a public auction. It is unclear how they got there. Campus Police Chief Marco Bareno said he did not know why the pallets were in the Grounds area, but said they were not considered stolen because they were not damaged and had not left the campus.
Sanchez agreed.
“Correct. Technically,” he said. “They were moved, yeah. Should they have been moved? No. There was no work order to move the pallets. But there’s a lot of construction happening, so what they did was to blend it in with the construction work.”
Sanchez refuted statements by some college employees that there was broader theft.
“We have recordings of everything and we didn’t see anything that was removed or taken off campus,” he said. “As a matter of fact, we check inventory. I don’t have evidence (of widespread theft) because that would be criminal proceedings. Big time.”
LINGERING ON THE PAYROLL
Hernandez-Jimenez, a non-union hourly employee, was immediately fired. As an hourly, he was not considered a full college employee and his employment was at the discretion of his supervisor.
Correa was a full-time employee and member of the CSEA classified employees union. Under the CSEA contract, unit members under investigation have due process rights. They cannot be fired without a hearing, though they may be placed on paid leave.
College officials said the CSEA contract allows employees under investigation or on leave to resign or retire at any time during the process.
Item 15.19 on the Feb. 13 Governing Board agenda said the college would accept Correa’s resignation on Feb. 28. Five months after the ATM theft his name was still listed in the college faculty and staff directory as an active employee. Correa confirmed that he was on paid leave through Feb. 28 while he was under investigation.
Chavez, an 11-year employee and a classified manager, chose to retire, according to Sanchez. At the Oct. 10 meeting of the governing board he was to be presented a retirement resolution that did not mention any criminal activity, sanctions or termination. Agenda Item 18.20 said that Chavez’s last day of employment was Oct. 5, five days before the meeting took place and about two weeks after the theft of the ATM.
In Item 25.6 Chavez was praised in a glowing proclamation announcing his retirement.
“BE IT PROCLAIMED, that Juan Chavez is deserving of recognition for their dedicated years and services, and deserved the commendation of the Governing Board, administrators, faculty, staff and students of the Southwestern Community College District.”
The proclamation was pulled from the agenda at the request of Trustee Don Dumas.
FUTURE PROSECUTION POSSIBLE
SC did not punish Chavez, but his case was turned over to the Chula Vista Police Department and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, according to Bareno. Chavez, Correa and Hernandez-Jimenez could be charged with felony Grand Theft, a crime punishable by up to three years in state prison with fines. California Penal Code statute of limitations for prosecution of Grand Theft is four years.
Bareno said the case was complicated and required investigation. SCPD has no detective, so the case was turned over to Chula Vista Police. Bareno said he and his officers were constrained by state law and college personnel policies, but that further action could be taken against Chavez, Correa and Hernandez-Jimenez by the CVPD or the District Attorney.
“What we want to make sure is that we hold people accountable,” he said. “And when I say ‘people accountable,’ I mean all people. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an employee or whether you’re a student or whether you’re a police office. If you commit a crime we’ll process the crime accordingly and we will submit it to the District Attorney just like anyone else.”
Representatives of the CVPD and district attorney said they could not share details on the case because it is an active investigation.
POLICIES ALLOW QUICK RETIREMENTS
Sanchez refuted complaints by some employees that Chavez received special treatment. He said the district acted properly and because Chavez had not been convicted of a crime, he was granted retirement without sanctions.
“He was allowed to retire,” Sanchez said. “That’s public record. That part of it is, in this country you are what, until proven guilty? What are you? You are innocent, right? So by contract, before he went through review he said ‘I’m just going to retire.’ So at the time that he was allowed to retire, he wasn’t charged of anything. It was under investigation.”
Sanchez said the Southwestern College portion of the investigation has since concluded.
“There is always the potential that someone can come back and sue,” he said.
Sanchez said he and the governing board made decisions based on foundational American law.
“I know a lot of people who, when that happened, a lot of faculty and staff too who want to say ‘you’re guilty,’” he said. “In this country you’re not guilty until there’s a review and an investigation and a conclusion that someone did it. But people want to condemn you right away. The investigation concluded. Did it (the theft) happen? Yes. But while that investigation was happening Juan said ‘I’m not going to let this go on. I’m going to retire right now.’ It was a good move on his part.”
Bareno said the situation needs time to play out with the CVPD and District Attorney. He said the SCPD did all that it could do under the circumstances.
“If we ask for (campus police) to be trusted as an institution…we need to act accordingly,” he said. “There is not going to be any difference in treatment whenever a crime has occurred.”