Vanderbilt University Football Player Convicted Of Rape Faces Battery Charge In Riverside County
INDIO (CBSLA.com) — A former Vanderbilt University football player convicted in Tennessee of filming and raping an intoxicated student now faces a misdemeanor charge in Riverside County of roughing up a security guard at his brother's middle school.
Brandon Robert Vandenburg, 21, is not expected to appear in court for Tuesday's pretrial hearing in Indio, where he faces a single misdemeanor count of battery against a school employee stemming from alleged Feb. 27, 2014 confrontation at Palm Desert Charter Middle School.
At the time, Vandenburg was free on bail and awaiting trial for rape and other charges in Nashville. Vandenburg was found guilty of the rape of an unconscious woman on Jan. 28 and is scheduled to be sentenced in the Nashville case on April 24.
According to a court declaration in support of an arrest warrant, Vandenburg went to the school that day about 3:34 p.m. and was confronted by campus security officer Jamie Tarascio. Vandeburg Tarascio his name and said he was on his brother's emergency contact list, according to the document.
Tarascio said he would have to confirm that Vandenburg was authorized to be on the campus and turned to walk into an administration office, sheriff's investigator Steve Rivera wrote. That's when Vandenburg – who is described in court records as 6-foot-6 and 255 pounds – snatched Tarascio's sunglasses off his face, leaving a tiny scratch under the security officer's left eyebrow, Rivera wrote.
"Vandenburg refused to give back Tarascio's sunglasses and had to be forced off the school campus," according to the declaration.
Vandenburg finally set the sunglasses down on top of a school gate after being told that police was being notified, according to Rivera.
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