An investigation into an alleged Tuesday attack by skateboarders on a janitor at South Pasadena Middle School took a different turn Wednesday after a video emerged online showing the janitor appeared to be the “primary aggressor” in the incident, police said.
The scuffle took place about 3 p.m. Tuesday at the school, 1500 Fair Oaks Ave., as three young men believed to be of high school age were skateboarding on the campus, South Pasadena police Sgt. Robert Bartl said.
The sergeant said officers initially responded to a report that “the janitor was attacked by three skateboarders at the middle school. They had assaulted the janitor and taken off on foot.”
The janitor was taken to a hospital for treatment of facial injuries and has since been released, according to police and South Pasadena Unified School District officials. The skateboarders were not found.
But a video posted on YouTube seems to paint a different picture of the encounter between the janitor, a 58-year-old man whose name was not released, and one of the skateboarders, Bartl said.
After viewing the 1-minute, 47-second video clip, “It appears that the janitor was the primary aggressor,” he said.
