Man pleads not guilty to stalking, criminal threats

A Castaic man accused of making criminal threats against his estranged wife who works for Castaic Elementary School— prompting safety concerns at the school—pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of stalking and making criminal threats.

Prosecutors charged 34-year-old Michael Petett with one felony count of stalking and two felony counts of criminal threats in San Fernando Superior Court, Ricardo Santiago, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

“(He) is due back on Feb. 23 for a pre-preliminary hearing,” he said.

Deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station arrested Petett on Saturday about 9:30 p.m. on suspicion of making criminal threats.

“On February 10, 2018, Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station deputies received information regarding several criminal threats that had been made against an employee, a female adult, at the Castaic Unified School District, by her estranged spouse,” Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station posted on the Station’s Facebook page Thursday.

“The threats were left on the victim's voicemail at her work location,” she said.

“Deputies acted quickly, and were able to locate and arrest the 34-year-old suspect approximately one hour after the initial report was made, and take him into custody, where he still remains,” she wrote on her post.

“Santa Clarita Valley Station detectives have been working diligently since the date of the incident to gather evidence and interview witnesses,” she said.

Petett remains in custody at the Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles with bail set at $250,000.

The alleged threat prompted the Castaic Union School District to add extra security personnel on the elementary school’s campus this week.

The threat was made to the employee over the weekend when the employee’s spouse left her a voice message threatening to harm both her and others at Castaic Elementary School.

“We received a threat over the weekend and it was a related to a domestic disturbance, and that threat included possibly causing harm to the school,” Superintendent Steve Doyle said Wednesday.