SOUTH VALLEY, N.M. — There’s a warrant out for the arrest of the head of the South Valley Academy charter school. In an arrest warrant, officers say director Richard Perea intimidated a student last month.

Staff found a box cutter in the student’s things. In Perea’s office, he insisted the student stand up.

He walked toward the student and allegedly pointed the open blade of the box cutter very close to his neck and said, “Boom, jugular vein.”

According to the warrant, Perea then put his arm around the student’s neck from behind and put the open blade against the student’s neck and “slid it from one side to the other.” He allegedly told the student, “I’m gonna show you what a Chicano man does.”

Two security officers were reportedly in the room.

Staff believed the student had been vaping in a bathroom, and they found the box cutter when they searched their things. Officers wrote the student told Perea they use the box cutter at a job – they work at a nearby ranch through the school’s service learning program.

The student acknowledged they shouldn’t have had the box cutter at school.

Perea is set to face charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and child abuse.

KOB 4 spoke with parents and students Friday after school. Many say the allegations have been difficult to handle. Students say they haven’t seen Perea at the school in a few days. Many believe he should not return to his position. Their responses are in the video above.

Officials with the charter school did not get back to us on our request for comment. An APS spokesperson said the district can’t comment because it’s “not involved in the day-to-day operations of charter schools.”

According to online records, Perea hasn’t been arrested yet.