Norco Mayor’s Lawsuit Alleges Son Was Forced to Eat Spitballs

NORCO —  The city’s new mayor is suing the local school district for $1 million, alleging that a bus driver manhandled his 7-year-old son and forced the boy to eat spitballs from the floor of a school bus.

Ronald E. Wildfong, a city councilman who Wednesday night began a yearlong term as mayor, claims that Suzan E. Garrett repeatedly forced his son to “pick up a spitball from the floor of the bus, and forced him to put it into his mouth and swallow it.”

The Oct. 24 incident caused Ronald Jason Wildfong, a first-grade student at Norco Elementary School, “great mental, physical and nervous pain and suffering . . . (and) will result in some permanent disability to him,” the suit claims.

Wildfong refused to discuss the case or the nature of his son’s injuries with a reporter, saying, “I have no desire to discuss the matter with you or anyone else.”

Emotional Stress

An earlier $100,000 claim stemming from the incident said Jason suffered emotional distress, sleeplessness and extreme nervousness from the incident. The claim, filed with the Corona-Norco Unified School District in December, was unanimously rejected by the Board of Education on Jan. 21.

Garrett could not be located for comment and school district officials declined to discuss the case. “I haven’t seen a copy of the lawsuit yet,” said Robert W. Crank, assistant superintendent for business services. “We’ve been told by the attorneys not to make any comment at all.”

The lawsuit claims that Garrett stopped her bus on the way home from school, “grabbed Ronald Jason Wildfong by the shirt collar at the back of his neck and twisted him around, making him gasp for air and choke.”

‘Roughly Shoved’ Boy

After forcing Jason to eat seven or eight spitballs, the suit charges, Garrett “roughly shoved” the boy to the front of the bus “and physically forced him off the bus.”

The driver “thought (Jason) was throwing spitballs,” said Barry Brandt, Wildfong’s attorney.

Jason still rides the school bus, Brandt said, but with a different driver.

Garrett is on leave of absence, Crank said. “It’s no leave that we generated,” he said. “She’s still employed; I think she’s out sick.”

Other school officials declined to elaborate on Garrett’s absence. “We do not release that sort of personnel information: the fact that a person is on leave or why she is on leave,” said Lee V. Pollard, assistant superintendent for personnel and evaluation services.

Brandt, an Upland lawyer who serves under contract as city attorney to Norco and several other Inland Empire cities, said his role in the lawsuit poses no conflict of interest.

‘I Sue People’

“I represent some cities, and I sue cities I don’t represent,” Brandt said. “I represent some people and I sue people I don’t represent. . . . City Council members are always asking city attorneys for help on their private stuff.”

Although he has served six years as a councilman, Wildfong “is not the City Council of Norco,” Brandt said.

Wildfong’s lawsuit, filed last week in Riverside Superior Court, charges negligence, intentional infliction of emotional and bodily harm, assault and false imprisonment. It seeks $1 million in punitive damages and unspecified special damages from Garrett and the Corona-Norco Unified School District.