Los Banos school board member arrested on drug charges

LOS BANOS, Calif. (KFSN) -- Some parents have harsh words for a Los Banos school board member in trouble with the law. Merced police arrested Dominic Falasco on drug charges over the weekend.

At the courthouse named for his uncle, Falasco was scheduled to appear Monday. Not because of his drug arrest Sunday, but to defend others in similar situations. Falasco is a prominent lawyer from a prominent family. His former clients include Tao Rivera, who's now on death row for murdering Merced police officer Stephan Gray.

Our reporter tried to find Falasco Monday, but he wasn't at his law office and he wasn't at his home. A family member who answered his phone told us Falasco had no comment about the case.

Merced police said Falasco admitted it was his meth and marijuana they found during a traffic stop.

We talked to a couple of his fellow school board members. Anthony Parreira told Action News he didn't elect Falasco and he can't control him, but both Parreira and Tommy Jones said they want to wait for more information and to give Falasco a chance to reach out for help.

At Falasco Elementary, named after his great aunt, some parents aren't so ready to forgive.

"That's not showing our kids a very good example, is it? That's just my opinion," said Patty Stanfill, a Los Banos Parent.

"So kind of disturbing," asked our reporter.

Michelle Volz, from Los Banos, said, "A little bit. I'm not gonna lie, yeah."

The school superintendent had no comment, but parents said the alleged crimes shouldn't have any effect on anyone except Falasco.

Stanfill said, "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter who it is. If you committed a crime, pay for it."

Action News was told Falasco won't be making any appearances in court for at least a couple weeks and his clients may be assigned new defense attorneys.