Parents issue public apology for watermelon incident
Parents of two of the Laguna Beach High School students associated with a December incident in which a watermelon was thrown at the house of a black student are apologizing, according to a letter addressed to the community that was emailed to the Daily Pilot.
Meldie Moore, an attorney representing the parents, sent the letter on their behalf.
The Daily Pilot spoke with one of the parents and confirmed their identity and the letter’s authenticity but is withholding their names to protect the identities of their children, who are minors.
“What happened over the winter break is offensive and unacceptable,” the letter said. “We are appalled at the events that took place and do not regard this is as a stupid joke or boyish prank. We are ashamed that our kids are associated with this situation …
“Our families are truly and sincerely sorry. We hope you can accept that this comes from our hearts.”
Maurice Possley said previously that he and his family were preparing to eat dinner shortly before 9 p.m. Dec. 27 when he heard a thud and found shattered pieces of a watermelon outside their home. He said he traced the watermelon brand to a store in Laguna, where an employee said she remembered the juveniles who bought the fruit.
Possley and his wife, Cathleen Falsani, who are white, say their 17-year-old adopted son, Vasco, was targeted because he is black.
“I know what throwing a watermelon at a person who is black is designed to connote,” Possley said in an interview last month. He declined to comment for this article.
Laguna police have told the Daily Pilot that they were investigating five juveniles who have possible connections to the incident. On Wednesday, Sgt. Tim Kleiser said the department had forwarded the case to the Orange County district attorney’s office for possible charges.
Kleiser has said that because the case involves juveniles, he can’t release details regarding the nature of the investigation.
In the letter handled by Moore, the parents of the other youths said the act was not premeditated. The students planned to throw toilet paper on a female classmate’s house, but declined because the house was “too exposed and the lights were on,” the letter said.
They chose another classmate’s house, but that house also was not suitable, the letter said. “One [student] suggested they throw the watermelon. Two boys objected and tried to stop it. One boy used an offensive racial epithet as they drove away.”
The parents hired Moore “because of potential consequences with the school system and juvenile law,” the Laguna Beach attorney said in a phone interview Wednesday.
“My clients have never been in trouble before, so their parents sought my counsel and advocacy on the possible school discipline and juvenile law consequences,” Moore wrote in a follow-up email.
“Any and all [Laguna Beach Unified School District] discipline processes related to the incident have been completed,” Leisa Winston, district assistant superintendent of human resources and communications, wrote in an email.
The students received “significant and appropriate consequences,” Laguna Beach High Principal Chris Herzfeld wrote in an email sent to parents last month. He declined to be more specific.
The district attorney’s office is “prohibited by law from speaking on the matter” because the case involves juveniles, said Susan Kang Schroeder, the office’s chief of staff.
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
