VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — A SWAT team with the San Diego Sheriff's Department arrested a former high school speech therapist on Friday morning.
Arturo Avina, 33, was taken into custody on the 1000 block of Shadoridge Drive in Vista.
He had been working as a speech therapist at Rancho Buena Vista High School from August of 2017 until January of 2019, according to Lisa Contreras, a spokesperson for Vista Unified School District.
In February, investigators allege, he began sending menacing messages to former colleagues. The sheriff’s department called him a “disgruntled employee” but did not describe the nature of the threats.
Contreras said the threats were only made against staff, adding “at no time were there any students who were in danger.”
Avina was booked on charges of criminal threats as well as burglary and vandalism.
He is being held at the Vista Detention Facility on $150,000 bail.
A court hearing for his arraignment is scheduled on Monday.
