YORKTOWN, N.Y. — The parents of a Lakeland High School student said they are horrified after their daughter was attacked on March 5 by the father of one of her classmates in the Shrub Oak Shopping Center parking lot, near the time of school dismissal. They are calling for justice and raising awareness to help prevent similar incidents.
The incident began with a verbal dispute between two students and ended with a 16-year-old girl in the hospital and a 42-year-old man facing multiple charges.
The victim’s mother, Linda Montwillo, called the attack “mind-blowing,” adding, “All our daughter did was call [the other student] names that weren't even vile, and then the father came and attacked our 16-year-old daughter.”
According to police, Montwillo’s daughter was walking when 42-year-old Charles Santiago of Putnam Valley allegedly pulled his vehicle in front of her, exited the car wearing a police-style badge around his neck, and falsely identified himself as law enforcement.
Michael Cuozzi, the victim's father, told Yorktown News that his daughter began to videotape Santiago as he approached her.
“She actually did a very excellent job by questioning this man’s credentials,” Cuozzi explained, adding that when Santiago identified himself as law enforcement, “the first thing she said was ‘I do not believe you're law enforcement...I am going to video you.’”
Cuozzi said Santiago then “charged” his daughter and tried to take away her cellphone to stop her from filming. That’s when he said Santiago “pushed” his daughter against the building.
“She went down into the bushes," Cuozzi said. "She got up to try to defend herself a little bit,” in an attempt to retrieve her phone. “She realized that was a moot point and then fled.”
“All she looked for was a safer place to go,” he added. “She happened to see the gentleman's car sitting there with the door wide open, so she started to move toward the car. That's where the gentleman dropped her phone, chased her, grabbed her, picked her up, and threw her on the ground, causing a head injury.”
According to Yorktown Police, two bystanders intervened, separating Santiago from the victim.
“It’s frightening to think that we can’t even send our kid to school without worrying about what’s going to happen to her,” Montwillo said. “She literally had her face smashed by a 42-year-old man. If she wasn’t five-foot-nine, if she wasn’t as strong as she is and fought back, he literally could have killed her with the blows to her head.”
An officer then arrested Santiago at the scene, and he was processed at the department.
Cuozzi said he was a mile from the school when his daughter was attacked and arrived on the scene two minutes after Santiago was arrested.
Montwillo said she received a phone call from a friend, a teacher in Lakeland, who notified her of the incident.
“As soon as I got the call, I rushed down there, but he was already cuffed and gone, so I just went to the hospital," she said.
The teenager was treated at a local hospital and released.
“She’s bumped, bruised, and in pain,” Cuozzi said. “Those injuries will heal in time. Emotionally, she’s rough. She’s having moments where she’s OK, and then she’s worried...she’s going to need a good network of people surrounding her to help her come to terms with what happened and how to get past it.”
While the teenager’s parents are relieved she is home, they all now face significant challenges ahead.
“It’s just scary all around—there’s no other way to put it,” Montwillo said. “I fear retaliation against our daughter, against myself, against Michael. These are real fears that now we have to live with every day, and that’s something really hard to wrap your head around.”
Santiago was charged with second-degree robbery, a class C felony, and first-degree criminal impersonation of a police officer, a class E felony. He was also charged with three class A misdemeanors, including second-degree reckless endangerment, acting in a manner injurious to a child, and third-degree assault.
Following his arrest, he was arraigned at the Yorktown Justice Court by Judge Aviah Cohen-Pierson, who issued a temporary order of protection. The order is “a third-person order of protection,” Cuozzi said, meaning the victim’s classmate—Santiago’s son—cannot say to her in school, “When he gets out, he’s going to get you,” because that would violate the order.
Bail was set at $3,500 cash, which Santiago later posted before being released.
Though the incident happened off school grounds, Cuozzi praised the school district for its handling of the matter and the support school officials have offered his daughter. He said he’s met with the district, which is already helping to create a game plan to keep his daughter safe.
He also added that Yorktown Police acted with “the utmost professionalism.”
“They have been checking in nonstop with me,” he said.
Santiago is due back in court on March 20 at 6 p.m. Cuozzi and Montwillo said they want justice for their daughter and are urging other parents in the school district to attend court and show their support.
“We want to flood the courtroom,” Montwillo said.
They believe that having other parents in the courtroom would signal the significance of the case, potentially influencing those handling it. Their presence, Cuozzi said, might make them “feel a little more compelled to know that this has a little more attention, a little more weight, so he’s not going to be so quick to plead down a violent crime like this and just let someone walk away.”
“That’s the main goal—to make sure this never happens again,” he added, expressing hope that Santiago “pays a serious price” for assaulting his daughter.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here