Man with felonies accused of walking into Immokalee elementary school

Reporter: Asha Patel
Published: Updated:

A man with felonies has been accused of walking into a school, looking into windows and keeping kids away from their parents.

It happened Wednesday at Highlands Elementary School in Immokalee, just off Newmarket Road West.

Steven Gonzalez has served time in prison.

According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, a staff member called deputies saying they saw a suspicious person walk through the building.

This happened after dismissal, so after-school programs were in session, and students were secured in the school for safety concerns, which caused parent pick-up to be delayed by 20 minutes.

Gonzalez is behind bars on three charges: trespassing school grounds, disrupting school functions and failure to register as a person with felonies.

According to the report, when deputies talked to the staff member who called, she said she saw a man wearing a black hoodie with his hood up looking into school windows and then walking into the building.

She said he exited the building, jumped the school fence and left school property.

Family members of students who go to Highland Elementary are shocked this happened.

A letter was sent out to parents about this. The principal said as soon as the campus was secure, after-school programs returned to normal operations.

As for Gonzalez, he is still in custody and has a court date later this month.

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