BY JEN NOWELL
Daily Post Staff Writer
A former guard who was hired to watch the train tracks in Palo Alto to prevent suicides could get 13 years and eight months in prison after he was arrested for burglarizing three homes in the city, a prosecutor said yesterday.
James Chester Broughton, a 21-year-old transient, pleaded no contest Jan. 26 to two counts of residential burglary, one count of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and petty theft, said Clarissa Hamilton, supervising deputy district attorney of the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Broughton was arrested Oct. 27 after he allegedly burglarized three Palo Alto homes. He was accused of breaking into homes in the 1400 block of Emerson Street, 500 block of Miramonte Avenue and 1600 block of Castilleja Avenue.
At least one of these burglaries occurred while he was on the clock, police said.
Police later connected Broughton to a street robbery that occurred Oct. 14 in Palo Alto. He allegedly robbed a woman of her purse near the downtown train station.
Released from prison
Prior to becoming a Track Watch guard, Broughton had been released from San Quentin prison, where he served time for armed robbery with a handgun.
Broughton is scheduled to be sentenced March 17, Hamilton said.
After a series of teen suicides in 2009 and 2010, the city started a program called “Track Watch” in which private security guards watch the Cal-train crossings.
Another two people who have had run-ins with police were on the payroll of Val Security, which previously had a contract with the city to provide guards along the tracks.
Brett Warren LeBraugh Scott, 33, of Sunnyvale, was cited in Mountain View on June 28 for possession of meth and drug paraphernalia. Scott was contacted by police while working at the Churchill Avenue train crossing Oct. 8, after police received a report of a disturbance. Police learned he had a warrant out for his arrest stemming from the June incident, and he was issued a new court date and released.
And Kenneth Lee White, 32, of San Jose, was working Nov. 5 when he was contacted by police at the Charleston Road train crossing for a misdemeanor warrant for petty theft. He was issued a new court date and released.
New contractor hired
Palo Alto has since hired a new contractor.
On Nov. 16, City Council voted to hire Cypress Security to replace Val. The city initially decided to go with a new contractor in April, after problems arose with Val, including guards talking on their cellphones and lacking professional appearance and behavior, city officials said.
But on Feb. 21, a guard working for Cypress was allegedly caught by a police officer in his car at East Meadow Drive and Alma Street behaving lewdly while on a break from work.
The officer saw a man acting suspiciously in a parked car, and when the officer approached, he saw that the man was pleasuring himself, police said.
The man allegedly admitted to police that he pleasures himself every day while on his breaks. An open bottle of alcohol was also found inside the man’s car, police said.
Forwarded to DA
The case was forwarded to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office for review of possible charges. The man’s name will only be released if he is charged with a crime.
Jason Berckart, a regional manager with Cypress Security, previously told the Post that the company was notified about the Feb. 21 incident involving one of its guards the following day.
Berckart said that he was told one of the guards was contacted for acting suspiciously, but it doesn’t appear that he committed a criminal act or any wrongdoing at this time. But the guard is on a leave of absence pending the outcome, which is routine anytime allegations of misconduct are raised, he said.