A Campo man who stormed onto a Campo Elementary School bus with a knife was sentenced Jan. 22 to one year in jail, but was allowed to serve part of that sentence in a residential drug treatment program.
Matthew Douglas Barker, 37, has admitted to using methamphetamine several hours before the bizarre May 25 incident at 8:31 a.m. at an apartment complex near Jeb Stuart Road in Campo.
The only person hurt was the bus driver, Harold Brandt, 78, who was punched in the face by Barker. The 23 children on the bus got out by the bus emergency exit in the back and were not harmed.
“That man was a hero,” said El Cajon Superior Court Judge Robert Amador about the bus driver, who is back on the job.
Amador said he watched the bus camera video of the incident and he saw Brandt “put his own life in danger” to protect the children on the bus.
Amador said Barker was moving slowly— “Frankenstein-like”—in the video. A grandmother jumped on Barker and helped subdue him after Barker stabbed an empty seat on the bus.
Barker was delusional and shouted he was afraid a drug cartel was going to injure his children on the bus, said the judge.
“He recognizes he was out of it (due to) excessive use of drugs,” said Amador. “His mind is clear now and shows he’s ready for treatment.”
“You’ll have to stay on the straight and narrow,” said Amador to Barker. “There was not sufficient mental health intervention.”
The judge suspended a 6-year prison term and said Barker won’t have to serve it unless he violates terms of four years probation. He ordered Barker to attend a parenting course and a long term grief counseling session.
The mother of his two children, Melissa Martinez, died in 2017 of leukemia, leaving Barker the only parent to take care of his two children. The grief counseling should help him, said Amador.
Barker’s parents became the children’s guardians because he was in jail and they still will remain taking care of them. They were also in court and the judge told them Barker could see his children.
“Because of your use of drugs, you did an incredibly foolish thing,” said Amador to Barker. “A man with a knife on the bus- -anything could have happened.”
Barker agreed to waive his jail credits of 234 days, which won’t be credited towards his sentence. He will likely spend most of it in the drug treatment program, which Amador described as “long term.”
“I am really grateful for the opportunity to move on with my life,” said Barker, who apologized to all the victims.
“I really can’t imagine what I put them through,” said Baker. “I’m a good man.”
Deputy District Attorney Taren Brast said she had reached out to all the parents of kids on the bus and said some of the children received counseling.
“There are some kids who are still scared,” said Brast.
“He wasn’t trying to stab anyone,” said the prosecutor.
Barker’s attorney, Dawnella Gilzean, said he had remorse and insight into what led to the incident. She asked the judge to suspend payment of fines until after he spends 18 months in the program.
Barker pleaded guilty Dec. 20 to felony assault upon a mass transit employee and and a second assault charge. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor child endangerment.
Other charges were dropped and the judge said there was no evidence the incident was an attempted carjacking or an attempted kidnapping.
