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Published at 6:20 a.m. ET: An on-duty mailman was arrested Monday after allegedly choking an 11-year-old girl who was supposedly taunting him after the letter carrier inadvertently walked into the women's bathroom at a park, U.S. Postal Service and law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
Daniel Villasenor, 55, allegedly choked the young girl after she laughed at him when he accidentally stepped into the women's restroom at Bristow Park in Commerce, southeast of downtown Los Angeles, on Monday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Several witnesses corroborated the girl's story, sheriff's officials said. Villasensor was found nearby and arrested.
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The 31-year Postal Service employee is on unpaid leave while the investigation continues, said Richard Mahe, spokesman for USPS. The incident is also being probed by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
NBC4's attempts to contact Villasenor's family for comment were declined late Tuesday. But Villasenor's neighbor in Temple City, Calif., Leo Ferraris, described the letter carrier as a "hell of a guy" who never lashed out. accus
"He'll be barbecuing stuff and he'll say, 'I've got stuff to bring over to you so don't fix dinner tonight,'" Ferraris said.
Villasenor was jailed on $100,000 bail and had been booked on one felony count of willful cruelty to a child.
Authorities said they would not be releasing a booking photo of Villasenor.
Leave a Comment:
Dude you don't choke the kid out for laughing at you. A simple hard slap across the face would have been sufficient to put the little SOB in her place.
Or you can laugh with her... after all almost walking into a ladies bathroom is pretty funny.
Obviously a new meaning to going postal.
There is absolutely no reason to do what he did over a laugh. He should've just chuckled and went into the men's room. 31 yrs with the service and he will most likely lose his pension over such a ridiculous act.
Children are cruel and don't realize what they're doing most of the time and to a child, someone walking into the wrong restroom and getting that goofy "DOH" look on their face all wide eyed while chirping their sneakers to a halt is hilarious...
I wonder if the Union will protect this jerk?
What do you call a retired government worker??
(answer) A mailman.
Everyone has a bad day. Not excusing what he did mind you but no one knows what happened to him that morning. And he is allgedly a nice guy according to those who knew him. But hey keep on spewing BS about a profession you know nothing about and this man.
Webba: True, everybody has a bad day. But few grown men choke an eleven-year-old girl for laughing at them. As for the guy's neighbor.... Hey, he couldn't have choked a little girl like the eye-witnesses said. After all, I've never seen him choke anyone, plus, he brought us food once. Wha---?
Was it a legitimate choke? Because, yanno, the female body can shut that whole thing down...
Why don't we just reserve judgement until all facts are known?
"Why don't we just reserve judgement until all facts are known?"
Because doing so would make most stories on NBC News, pointless for some. Headlines scream "truths" and many people leave comments because they just "know" that the accused deserves to be pulled apart by wild horses.
Nikolaus20
Because this is what the vine is for.
If we did what you say, we wouldn't be here at all now,.......would we....
Even you yourself are judging however, you're judging "us" on "our" judgements.
Havin' fun yet?!...... ;-)
Webb, true we all have bad days, but even on my WORST day I cannot recall ever strangling a child for laughing at me.
Sorry, NOT an excuse. I don't care what happened to him that day, that month,,his WHOLE LIFE.
There is NO excuse.
Many see this is as appropriate for a response by the mailman. Ask yourself what would you do if you saw a strange man choking your 11 year old daughter?? For me, he would be moving towards the light in the hear after, sorry no questions asked.
Seven,
Who's the "many"?! I don't see a single post saying it was appropriate....
There are a couple that are sarc.... & yes, if I seen him chocking my kid, he'd be changing his shorts very soon...
Yesterday it was shooting neighbors over dog poop, today it's choking children over taunting and laughing. I'm telling you people we need to step back and look at ourselves. Have we become so soft and unable to defend ourselves against a little criticism that we now resort to killing kids? Come on, thicken up that skin just a little!
Maybe he was peeved that the USPS was taking his Saturday hours away...who knows?
All in all though...BAD POSTMAN, BAD POSTMAN!
And the 11 year old girl needs to be taught some civility. More then likley she is ridiculed and picked on at at home or school, still...BAD GIRL, BAD GIRL!
I am so sure this Mailman is a great guy....
I can hear his neighbors now saying "he was a quiet man that kept to himself"
A few comments here are kind of crude, and over the top, sure - but I believe most of us on here agree the man should have just ignored what is in all likelihood a dull witted and double-digit I.Q. preteen. Wouldn't have been an issue then.
Slow news day, I guess. Lolz!
This won't ever happen again, on Saturday anyway.
Hummmmmm ...... I find the increasing practice of selectively releasing photographs of those arrested for alleged criminal acts ..to be extremely disturbing ...
Daniel Villasenor may be a great guy ... but the witnessed alleged act (against a child) is a violent act,not to be taken lightly ..... and his booking photo should released. We are loosing touch with what "Equal Protection" means along with "Fair & Impartial"
To "arbitrarily & capriciously" or "selectively" release photos of alleged perpetrators of crimes is wrong & manipulates balance in our system.
Creek Dog
Nikolaus20
"Because this is what the vine is for. If we did what you say, we wouldn't be here at all now,.......would we....
Even you yourself are judging however, you're judging "us" on "our" judgements. Havin' fun yet?!...... ;-)"
My Creek Dog, aren't you superior? I didn't say that commenting was wrong, or that judging certain kinds of behavior was wrong. I responded specifically to another comment about passing judgement before all the facts were in. It's one thing to say that choking a child is wrong, if this is in fact what happened. It's quite another to say that the alleged perpetrator should go to jail, get beaten up, etc. If you find such comments to be entertaining or informative - comments on the Vine which condemn individuals (or even entire races and religions) for faults or "crimes", based on speculation or incomplete news stories - then by all means, enjoy yourself. How many times have we read "factual" accounts of some criminal act, only to have the story "updated" later in such a way as to make earlier condemnations moot?
Yes, I'm having fun.
whoooooSSSsaaaa!
If I choked everybody who laughed at me I'd be dead.
I too am reserving judgment until more facts come in. Considering that I've seen the running amok of hundreds of teens in our downtown described as a "flash mob" when it was actually a riot with broken windows and people assaulted, and that the Atlanta floozy who was tasered has been described as a "protesting" or "angry" mother, I don't trust the facts of a story that is guaranteed to have been quickly written to provoke our responses.
@RussH - Only problem is, if everyone opted out of "junk mail" the post office would go belly up even sooner then they are now, or would have to raise stamps to $1. That "junk mail" pays the bills and all we have to do is throw it in the recycling (after grabbing my Dunkin' Donuts coupons of course).
Stress!! Pure and simple stress. The postal service is talking about cutting Saturday mail delivery off which means a reduction in pay for the mail delivery so he was stressed out.
I understand that there is no excuse we can see for choking a young 11 years old girl but this article does not say how abusive her laughter might have been to this mailman. She could have been mocking him calling him abusive names. Here you only have one side of the story.
V
creekdog, #1, 1.4 and 1.5. Sorry if I did not interperate to your standards but I have my opinion.
He could have used a dog spray on her...
...but seriously, going postal on a kid like that is a new low even for a mailman...
Maybe ending Saturday delivery is not such a bad idea...
... not saying I haven't wanted to.... my granddaughter comes to mind.... she walked into the bathroom as I was stepping out of the shower and saw me nekkid... wanted to strangle my dogs, too, they were rolling on the floor, legs waving in air, laughing with her...
Hi, CD.
After Doing the same thing at McDonalds (Can't tell womens room from men room) while delievering my mail I walked in and the female manager asked me what the hell I was doing!!! I told her I going to take a pee. She says this is the womens bathroom. After I got through I said I don't give a crap I had to go!!!Screw U and walked out. I went back to delievering my mail. End of story. I didn't know I could have choked her out. Maybe next time.
And this is why they need a break from working on Saturdays.
It could have been a lot worse as he could have forced her to read the "JUNK MAIL"!!!!!.
Well balanced individuals do not choke children. This is the kind of person who is a danger to children & should be locked up until it can be proven that he is not a danger. If choking a 11 year old isn't ringing the warning bells after the Alabama fiasco there is no hope of learning from mistakes. Does the term going postal mean anything to anyone?
Yes, but being locked up behind bars 'till being proved not a danger isn't the answer. I can see if he rendered the kid unconscious.
Sounds like he just reached over and squeezed her neck for a second even though, this was not a good thing to do.
Lock up "criminals". The jails are already overcrowded from locking people up for giving a cop the finger with rapists and murderers instead of for a "real" good reason...
Give the guy a court date, then fine him and put the situation under your hat and if he is in front of that judge again within a certain time period, "then" you should go a little heavier on the guy.
Agreed Wallace,
I can just picture this guy in the basement looking down a hole saying "It rubs the lotion on it's skin or else it gets the hose again"................
Yea lets just lock up everyone who over reacts or does something wrong one time. Wow some of you people are seriously off your F'n rockers. And no doubt if you look back in your history you would be locked right now by your very own rules.
Rocky-great movie, can watch all or parts anytime. -CD-coffee time!
Webba, most of us have never choked a little girl. If that's normative behavior to you, I hope you have a shrink.
No Webba -- I've never choked a child, or anyone for that matter, for laughing at me. This guy has obviously got some serious mental issues if he freaks out that badly over something so minor.
Well balanced kids also do not taunt adults! It is obvious that there is more to this story, but the snotty little brat needs some lessons in manners.
We don't know what "choked" means. I can tell you based on a career in law that 4,000 people could give you 4,000 different accounts of how he choked the girl. For all we know he put his hand on her neck and pushed her away from him. Still bad judgment, sure, but not the double-handed throat squeezing most of us are probably envisioning.
The rude little brat probably needed a good choking to wake her up.
Could have been worse; she could have thrown dog poop on his patio & front door.
He overreacted, but parents are not teaching their children manners anymore. Where was the parent to say " That's enough. Leave the man alone " If she continued to say stuff to him , that was wrong. NO she didn't deserve what he did, but she needs to be taught that she was wrong in her behavior.
What, too thin skinned to take a little taunting from an 11 year old girl ?
Then he choke her, and you say she need to be taught good manner ? Did the mailman's parents taught him to choke everyone who laugh at him ?
I blame his parents, no wait they weren't there, maybe her parents, no wait we don't know if they were there. Sheesh now I don't know who to blame...maybe I should blame the person who physically assaulted a little girl.
I am sure all the parents blamer were perfect well behaving children in their young days...eyeroll.
The problem is, "taunting laughs" isn't all that you get from some kids today. Their disrespect for others also takes the form of property damage or physical injury. Not speaking of teenagers here, but of kids as young as 9 or 10. A 10 year old was recently caught in a local subway station in my city after hitting several adults in the face with a pea shooter, which could have caused eye injuries. I'm not at all justifying what the mailman did, simply saying that it's wrong to excuse bad behavior in children, BECAUSE they're children.
One of those bad hair days I guess .... NO reason to go Postal ..
Get Him
never a dull newsday in calif....pretty soon we won't have the postal service to pick on after our gov't finish's bleeding them dry for there own agendas..
Never a dull moment in Commerce CA, one of the more malodorous armpits of the Western Hemisphere. For all we know (yet), Mr. Villasenor had just recently been transferred to a new route there, and felt - choose all that apply - 1) paranoid, 2) threatened, 3) disgusted, or 4) upset with the USPS.
That doesn't excuse, but may serve to explain, his behavior. . .
With 31 years service and age 55, he was probably eligible to retire (if he chose to remain under the old CSRS Civil Service Retirement System.) Betcha he now wishes he had taken the earliest opportunity. Retirement is much more pleasant if one is not in a cell or under house arrest. And if he was so edgy, it is unlikely that he was enjoying the work. His removal will save the USPS some money - even if he is replaced, the new-hire employee will have a lower wage and much lower benefits.
You would think that in 31 years of dealing with the public, he could develop better people skills. Maybe a little lecture would have been appropriate, like "Oh well. I made an honest mistake, little lady. But you are acting like a nasty little bully. Have a nice day."
What he did was wrong. But the child was just as wrong for taunting him, and trying to bully.
Verbal assault should be as equal a crime as physical assault. Im not talking legit criticism. Im talking about bullying and harassment of another person, and deliberately trying to embarrass. They should have hauled the little girl in as well, she caused this by flapping her gums. Disturbing the peace seems to fit.
Need to make a few examples. Put her and her parents in jail over night and make sure it makes the news so everyone else learns its is a crime to verbally assault another person.
Yes let's try all kids as adults, after all we know their brain is as developed as any adult and their judgement is perfect after all theses years of experiences. Let's put all kids in jail where they belong.
So now she was JUST AS WRONG ? Hey I'm a man, if a little girl laugh at me I'll just laugh and leave. But if a mailman choke my little girl he'll end up in the ER. What are you, an insecure little wimp ?
When you get angry enough to choke someone because you're being taunted by an 11 year old girl you have very deep issues.
Don't bully the postman....
Pretty tough to discipline kids (or parents) with a "disturbing the peace" charge. There would be many parents of screaming-children-on-airplanes in the lockup. Sometimes it takes children a little time to develop their social governors - maybe the mail carrier never did (or he is losing the control he once had.)
Original version:
Sticks and stone may break my bones
But words will never hurt me.
New version:
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But I will report anyone who says mean things to the police because it is in direct violation of the Federal Gigantic Pussy Act and that is exactly how ridiculous and pathetic we want not just our nation but also our entire species to become so we can all devolve into fragile, weeping trainwrecks of humanity with no ability to cope with any adversity whatsoever.
I like it! Let's do this.
He just wanted the 2 more cents for postage.
Can you say "anger management"?
The important thing in this article is that his neighbors are happy he feeds them.
Do you think the eleven year old learned her lesson ?
I don't know. I DON'T get the impression she's all that bright. Probably still in the first grade.
There are a lot of brats out there that need a huge slap. Choking was a bit much lol.
Parents are allowing their children to be narcissistic Aholes more and more these days and maybe if this happened more often, maybe a few of those entitled brats would think twice and learn to be a little more respectful.
I entered the Ladies room at a busy airport a few years back and there was a man in the stall with the door open and standing there peeing, myself and several women stood behind him and were a little amazed, you should have seen his face when he turned around! He didn't have to assault any of us to cover up his embarassment.
It's not hard if you don't look at the little signs. If no one is in the stalls when you get in there and the stalls are the first thing you don't think to look for the other sign that it's a men's room, a urinal, been there.
So how long did you stand there? Ha ha ha
Seriously, the first clue that your in the wrong bathroom is "where are the urinals" - duh. I've seen women take over a men's bathroom at a concert when their bathroom had a long line. It was strange because they had no problem, most of them even left the doors open while I was standing there at a urinal laughing.
Ever go to a concert or other event in Texas? The men's room is likely to have several women in it, if there is a line at the ladies'. Texas women are practical, impatient, and self-confident. If the architect won't provide reasonable facilities, they just improvise.
Plenty of disrespectful kids out there. When my son was abt 9 or 10, he disrespected a woman at the pool and she whopped him one. He deserved it. I didnt fault her at all. Children should learn that there are consequences to bad/hateful/disrespectful behavior. Bet she wont throw that attitude out to an adult again....unless everyone babies her and tells her what a bad guy the postal guy was...then she'll never learn.
Clem, while I might agree with you to an extent, you can't have it both ways.
It's either illegal to touch anothers kid or it isn't.
It's ILLEGAL. There are no exceptions.
He had no business laying a hand on her. He should not be a government employee. I don't want to pay the salary of anyone strangling a child.
If he's found guilty. FIRE HIM
I have to agree with you Clemsh. Pretty sad that so many kids are running amok with no proper upbringing. We live near a park in our neighborhood, and yet we no longer take our own kids there to play. The Kids who hang out there are so bad that knife fights break out during basketball games. Frankly, I think the mailman should be able to charge the kid with civil disobedience, rather than having charges brought against him.
Lots of opnions here so I'll put my 2 cents worth in. I think the little "thing" is lying and so are her so-called witnesses. It's a power trip for kids in this day and time and they are loving it.
I don't get it.
How old is he? Jeez MSNBC.
I saw that, too, but I think the 31 year figure is how long he's been with the postal service, just poorly expressed.
Ways to ruin your life #1143: Choke a little girl for laughing at you.
"Save the children!! Ban US Mail!! Stop the madness!!"
What is a 11 year old kid doing hanging out in a restroom without
Mama & daddy, oh that right they were smoking Obama pot.......I have a
friend that’s a bus driver and he tell me story's all the time that six years old
kids say MF this and MF that...they have video on the bus and he takes the tape
in and then Grand Mama comes to the school do that mama in is jail for drugs.
This is a lack of real Mama & Daddy doing their job and showing love
respect your elders
I only respect elders who don't make ridiculous, judgmental leaps based on no information.
Sounds like the little girl is a bully. Perhaps next time she will keep her cute comments to herself. I'm thinking this is blown out of context. I hope the mailman's union saves his job. With all those years he has in perhaps he will just be able to retire with his pension. Hopefully all involved will learn something from this, keep cruel actions to yourself and keep your hands off others out of anger.
Did the big bad little 11-year old girl bully hurt the poor defenseless mailman's feelings? Poor mailman; he had to exercise self defense, right?
Bob, your probably a bully and your kids are punks too.
Okay, Jordan, you got me there!
By the way, "you are" is contracted to "you're" not "your".
This is just like NBC to only tell half the store, just what did the brat do? I'm sure it was more that a laugh
..children should be seen and not heard.. so throttling was in order.
Is he a former war veteran?
Do Postal workers get Psych evaluations?
Is anyone else seeing a pattern here? That it doesn't matter what you do or did in the past. People are just losing all respect for life.
Here we go.
All the facts are not know. It could have been self defense.
Yeah, many grown men find little girls highly intimidating.
depends on how bad you piss off the little girl, when my niece was 11 or 12, we had to pick her up from school because she got suspended for beating the crap out of an older boy who pinched her boob.
Some 11 year old girls are fully developed. It's happening a lot faster now and nobody knows why. Maybe something to do with all the perservatives in food. An 11 year old could be as strong as an adult with none of the self-control.
Most 11-year old girls are stronger than Joe Scatone, but Joe Scatone is the exception.
Self-control like Daniel Villasenor exhibited?
I'm sure the Union will protect him and he'll retire out with full pension.
Yes or an innocent person will lose his job and his pension over some crackhead's daughter that was forced to lie to make a dime. Honey, I see it everyday....that's reality!!
Everybody seems to be so angry all of the time now. I think texting, Twitter and all of the online tools have taken away the need to respect other people. Yes Janine, it is true that parents no longer teach their children to be respectful of others. No one cares about civility, it is all about their right to express their own feelings but they don't understandf there will be consequences. He was completely wrong to touch a child so he was out of control and needed to be an adult. I guess I am old school, but I raised my children to repect other people , yes sir, yes mam, etc. My children are all adults and are very successful so I guess it worked for them. I always felt my job as a parent was to raise responsible, contributing adults. That doesn't seem to be a goal anymore for a lot of parents.
It's not his fault. he thought she was a german shepard.