Cal Poly clarifies safety alert timeline after students allegedly found with weapons on campus

The two Cal Poly students arrested on suspicion of weapons charges made bail hours after they were booked, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to The Tribune on Wednesday.

Charles Hojaboom and Brandon Pham were arrested around 10:15 p.m. on Nov. 11 after officers heard gunshots and after several campus community members called 911 to report hearing the sound, Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier told The Tribune in an email.

The two students were allegedly in possession of a shotgun and a loaded, concealed pistol at the time of their arrest, he said.

Additional weapons were found in their dorms on campus, Lazier said.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, Pham and Hojaboom were booked into jail at 5:12 a.m. and 5:45 a.m., respectively on Nov. 12. Both posted a $20,000 bail later that day.

Hojaboom was released at 10:51 a.m. and Pham was released at 2 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office said.

Hojaboom is suspected of misdemeanor vandalism and five felonies: carrying a concealed firearm, carrying a loaded firearm, discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner, carrying a blade on a school campus and carrying a loaded gun on a school campus.

Phan is suspected of misdemeanor carrying a less-than-lethal weapon on a school campus, felony carrying a blade on a school campus and felony discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner.

Lazier said the school learned of the two students’ release the day they left jail.

“The two have been barred from campus in the interest of safety while their cases move through both the criminal justice process and the university’s own student conduct process,” Lazier said. “The university is not able to provide further details about their present locations.”

The university sent an alert to students about the alleged crimes on Nov. 16 — four days after Pham and Hojaboom were released from jail.

According to the second alert on Nov. 17, “all indications are that the students were firing at targets and not people.”

According to California law, universities must send a Clery Alert, or alert of a crime on campus, to students when:

• A reported crime is among the crimes listed in the Clery law.

• A reported crime took place on campus or within narrowly defined areas off campus but related to the university.

• A reported crime poses a potential serious or ongoing threat to the campus community.

Lazier said the case initially only met the first two criteria, adding that the third was not met when the students were in jail and “the potential threat was mitigated.”

“With additional information coming to light in the investigation, including but not limited to the fact that both students had bailed out of jail, a Clery notification to campus was made on Nov. 16 out of an abundance of caution,” he said.

Lazier said he could not disclose whether anything specific came to light in the days after their release that prompted the alert.

The police investigation into this matter is continuing, Lazier said, and the university is not able to provide additional information at this time.

The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office had not filed charges against Pham or Hojaboom as of Wednesday evening.

Anyone who sees them in or around campus, is asked to call 911 or the Cal Poly Police Department at 805-756-2281.