Brookfield board member guilty of assault temporarily suspended

Two board members had a physical quarrel at a March meeting.

STAFF REPORT

BROOKFIELD — A board of education member has been suspended from attending three board meetings after being found guilty Thursday of misdemeanor assault.

Joseph Pasquerilla was found guilty after a trial before Acting Judge David Lake in Trumbull County Eastern District Court.

In addition to the meeting suspension, Pasquerilla received a 10-day suspended jail sentence, was fined $250, is to attend anger management counseling and was ordered to write a 250-word letter of apology to fellow board member Ronald Brennan.

The two had a physical altercation at a March board meeting. Brennan pleaded no contest and was found guilty of disorderly conduct. He was fined $25.

According to the police report, Brennan said board members disagreed about issues related to new board member candidates when things got heated. Brennan told police Pasquerilla stood up, approached him and slapped him with an open hand.

Brennan admitted that in the heat of the argument he called Pasquerilla a dictator and a “son of a b----.”

Pasquerilla told police the events occurred as Brennan related, except Brennan stood up first. He said that he was struck by Brennan with a forearm to the chest and that he only struck back in self-defense.

Judge Ronald Rice at the county court recused himself from the case, because he and other parents in Brookfield Township filed a lawsuit against the school board to provide bus rides to parochial schools their children attend.