San Benito High School’s recently resigned superintendent is accused of brandishing a gun at a man parked in a car outside his house, while the incident was Oct. 22 before the official’s arrest in mid-December.
Gilroy police said they received a complaint Oct. 23 about former San Benito High School Superintendent John Perales brandishing a gun at a man parked in a car outside his Greystone Court house the night before.
The victim went to the police department and said while he had been waiting in his car for a friend who lived near Perales, the former superintendant pointed a gun at him and told him to leave. He calmed down and the man left. But the next day he decided to report it to police.
GPD sent the report to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office, which filed a charge Dec. 13 against Perales for brandishing a handgun. Perales turned himself into Gilroy police Dec. 16, posted bail and was given a court date.
Perales is a Gilroy native who previously served as principal of Christopher High School.
A statement from San Benito High School District released Tuesday said the board accepted his resignation Friday along with a release agreement. The district appointed former human resources head Shawn Tennenbaum to the interim superintendent role.
Perales in December had been placed on paid administrative leave, but district officials kept have quiet on the reasoning. Salinas-based KSBW first reported that Perales’ attorney said the police incident happened outside the former official’s home in Gilroy.
The district statement read as follows.
“At its meeting on January 13, 2017, the Board accepted the resignation of the Superintendent and approved a resignation/release agreement. As this is a confidential personnel matter, no additional details can be provided at this time. The Board has appointed Shawn Tennenbaum, Director of Human Resources, to the position of Interim Superintendent and is confident that the District’s operations will continue efficiently and without interruption under his leadership.”
Perales has been superintendent since 2014. He came from an administrative position in the Gilroy district.
It has been a rocky couple of years at the top for San Benito High School. The first principal hired under Perales, Todd Deardon, resigned after a year following an investigation.
As of Tuesday evening, the San Benito district website still had references and photos alluding to Perales as superintendent.
Free Lance Editor Kollin Kosmicki contributed to this report. Look back for more.
