Former school janitor pleads guilty to assaulting Oakland principal

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jun 5, 2009 | by Katy Murphy

OAKLAND -- A former Oakland school district custodian has pleaded guilty to attacking a principal with a pistol last summer.

Floyd O'Neal, who was 31 at the time of his arrest in September, will be sentenced next month to 11 years in state prison for assault on a school employee, causing great bodily injury, said Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Stacie Pettigrew.

Last June, Manzanita Community School Principal Eyana Spencer was brutally attacked in her office by a man disguised in a dreadlocks wig and sunglasses. The key break in the case came about two weeks later, when O'Neal tried to flee from police during a traffic stop. Investigators found a wig and a pistol inside the car.

Tests later identified traces of Spencer's DNA on the weapon, Pettigrew said.

O'Neal was formally charged last September in connection with the assault.

O'Neal, who had worked at the Fruitvale-area Manzanita Community School for several years, apparently told investigators that he attacked Spencer because he was being disciplined for poor performance. He was fired last July.

Pettigrew said O'Neal apologized to Spencer in court Thursday -- the first courtroom apology she can remember in her 6 1/2 years in the district attorney's office.

"Nothing that he says can take away the hurt that he's caused her, but I think that she was genuinely grateful," Pettigrew said.

Spencer is still the principal at Manzanita Community, a small elementary school in East Oakland.

Reporter Sean Maher contributed to this story. Reach Reporter Katy Murphy at 510-208-6424 or kmurphy@bayareanewsgroup.com. Read her Oakland schools blog and post comments at www.ibabuzz.com/ education.