Perris man accused of punching Corona basketball player will enter pleas, attorney says

The Perris resident convicted of punching a female basketball player during a fight at a high school game in Corona will enter a plea on at least some of the remaining counts, his attorney said on Friday, April 19.

In March, Thaddis Lamont Brooks IV was acquitted in Superior Court in Riverside of criminal threats and on one of three battery charges; he was convicted on a second battery.

On Friday, April 19, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office had said it would retry Brooks on the felony charges a jury deadlocked on: two counts of assault with a gun, one count of criminal threats, bringing a gun onto school grounds, and being a felon in possession of a firearm in addition to the third misdemeanor battery count.

But later Friday, an April 26 hearing was scheduled for the pleas.

Brooks’ attorney, Arsany Said, said he could not divulge which charges Brooks will plea to. Spokesman John Hall said the DA’s Office does not confirm or comment on plea agreements until they are final.

Brooks has been in custody since Feb. 2, 2023, and will be given credit for time served when sentenced.

The charges were brought after a melee at a basketball game between host Centennial High and Santiago High on Jan. 24, 2023. A fight broke out between two players that was later joined by a player who Brooks knows. Brooks left the stands and entered the court. He could be seen in a recording exchanging shoves with someone before going out of view.

He appeared again on the recording and a man can be seen grabbing him and muscling him away from the crowd.

Brooks was accused of punching two players and then going to his car, retrieving a gun and threatening to shoot people in the parking lot. Said argued during the trial that Brooks was holding a cellphone, not a gun.