Fresno college student threatened ‘something unthinkable’ toward instructor, records show
Court records in the case of a Fresno City College student arrested for allegedly holding his instructor hostage at gunpoint in her home reveal disturbing texts from the student and the instructor’s attempts to steer him to counseling.
Fresno City College officials have obtained a temporary restraining order against student Rodolfo Brambila, 55, even as he remains in the Fresno County Jail with bail set at $630,000. He is scheduled for arraignment on Jan. 8.
Court records show that prior to the Dec. 10 incident Brambila was texting his instructor, pleading with her to meet with him to discuss something urgent. One of his text messages on Nov. 23 read: “I can’t take it any more...I’m about to do something unthinkable.”
The instructor responded by saying she did not feel comfortable meeting him and referred him to see a counselor or a doctor.
“Please consider doing this,” she texted in reply. “I’m happy to help you find the resources you need.”
Brambila insisted that they meet, but the instructor did not bend. At one point she praised him for having done “excellent work in class this semester,” but also encouraged him to seek help.
He responded by saying she was a good teacher, but a “crappy friend.”
About a week later, according to court documents, Brambila found out where the instructor lives and showed up at her central Fresno home. He waited for her mother to leave and then knocked on the door. The instructor, who was alone with her two small children, refused to answer the door and told him repeatedly to leave, which he did. The instructor, whose phone was broken, then ran to her neighbor’s house to call police.
Hiding in backyard as daughters played
On Dec. 10, Brambila came back to the house, unannounced, uninvited and armed with a gun. He was hiding in the backyard when the instructor’s two young daughters came out to play. He remained out of sight until the instructor appeared.
“When I went into my backyard, Mr. Brambila confronted me with a firearm,” she wrote in her declaration. “He assaulted me and threatened me in front of my daughters. I fought back and injured my hands, and suffered scratches and bite marks. I was scared for my life and my daughters’ lives.”
She was rescued by her husband, neighbors and police.
Another instructor’s encounters
Another of Brambila’s instructors also had several encounters with him. In her declaration, she accused him of publicly berating her for how she was teaching her class. He also made some of the female students feel uncomfortable, she said.
“Mr. Brambila mentioned a few times via Zoom class that he could hear the train in the background of my computer speaker, implying that he was aware of where I lived. He has always treated me with disdain, as though he has a lot of anger towards me,” the instructor wrote in her declaration.
Restraining order request
City College president Carole Goldsmith requested the temporary restraining order on behalf of three of her staff members, including the instructor Brambila allegedly assaulted. The restraining order was granted by Judge Mark Cullers on Dec. 15.
Brambila must stay at least 500 yards away from the instructors’ workplace and home, he cannot have any contact with them, follow or stalk them, or harass them in any way.
“If Mr. Brambila is allowed on campus or goes to the residences of the Fresno City College employees seeking protection, I am gravely concerned that he will commit a heinous act of violence,” Goldsmith said in her request to the judge.
Brambila is charged with several felonies stemming from the Dec. 10 incident, including kidnapping, assault with a firearm, false imprisonment with violence, stalking and carrying a loaded firearm in public.
