A controversial Val Verde school board member who is seeking reelection Nov. 5 has been arrested again for an alcohol-related offense outside a Riverside nightclub, police said.
Matthew Pierre Guevara Serafin, 32, was taken into custody at 12:24 a.m. Sept. 27 outside Club Riv, near University Avenue and Orange Street, and booked on suspicion of public intoxication. Serafin had refused to leave the club after he was turned away at the door, Riverside Police Department spokesperson Ryan Railsback said.
Val Verde Unified Board of Education member Melinda Young listens to speakers during an October 2023 school board meeting. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
“Security had denied Mr. Guevara Serafin entry due to being overly intoxicated, and he became irate,” Railsback said in an email. “Officers noted he appeared intoxicated, was argumentative, and they gave him several opportunities to call for a ride home. Mr. Guevara Serafin refused to leave so he was arrested and booked into jail for public intoxication.”
Serafin, or Guevara as his online booking records showed, was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center, cited and released from custody the same day.
Serafin did not respond to requests for comment.
Alcohol offenses
In August 2018, Serafin was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and subsequently pleaded guilty to the offense a year later, Riverside County district attorney spokesperson Thalia Hayden said.
Serafin was arrested again in August 2023 and charged with driving under the influence after he allegedly struck a parked vehicle on Redding Way, near A Street, in Perris and tried to flee. A hit-and-run charge filed in connection with that incident was dismissed under an agreement in which Serafin pleaded guilty to the DUI, Hayden said.
On Tuesday, Oct. 8, Serafin’s attorney, Mohamad Wefky, appeared on his behalf in Riverside Superior Court, where Judge Stefanie Field vacated a bench warrant that had been issued following Serafin’s latest arrest, Hayden said. Field, according to Hayden, ordered Serafin to participate in an alcohol-monitoring program for 60 days and scheduled a hearing on Dec. 31 for an update on his compliance with the program.
Hayden said the District Attorney’s Office is still awaiting the report from the Riverside Police Department on his Sept. 27 arrest and has yet to review the case for potential criminal charges. She said Serafin is currently on probation until June 2029. It was unclear Wednesday how his recent arrest could potentially affect his probation status.
Serafin also has a misdemeanor vandalism conviction out of Orange County from 2015.
District reaction
Serafin was absent Tuesday at the Val Verde Unified school board meeting, where his latest arrest reignited a demand for his ouster from some residents and at least one board member.
Serafin has come under attack in the last two years for his prior DUI offenses and lack of decorum at public meetings, during which he has been accused of using foul language and making inappropriate remarks.
“Here we go again. I wish he was here to hear me,” said Moreno Valley resident Fred Banuelos. He noted that Serafin, as a former student at UC Irvine, led the charge to remove the U.S. flag from the lobby of the student council offices.
“He was saying the people there were uncomfortable and unsafe. Well, I’d like to think that our kids are uncomfortable and unsafe because this guy keeps getting arrested. I hope he gets help. He needs help,” Banuelos said.
Roy Bleckert, a local government watchdog, also questioned Serafin’s use of different surnames — both Serafin and Guevara — and said his latest alleged offense should be the last straw.
“Now in my book, that’s enough for me to say, ‘Three strikes and you’re out!’ ” Bleckert said. “The good news, we can cure this in about 30 days.”
Banuelos and Bleckert both support school board candidate Dolores Holmes, who is running against Serafin in the Nov. 5 election.
Following his 2015 conviction — a year before he was elected to the school board — Serafin filed a petition in Riverside Superior Court to change his surname from Guevara to Serafin, his mother’s maiden name. A judge granted the request, court records show.
Serafin said during an October 2023 school board meeting that he took his mother’s maiden name as his surname because she solely raised him since he was 13. He said his father was an alcoholic and an “abuser.”
Related links
Val Verde Unified school board president steps down under pressure to resign post
Val Verde school board president blocks third attempt to strip him of his position
Val Verde school board president’s second DUI arrest, public conduct stirs renewed calls to step down
Val Verde school board president faces public backlash after second DUI arrest
‘Deeply concerning’
Trustee Melinda Young was the only board member Tuesday to address Serafin’s recent alleged conduct and arrest.
“I’d just like to reiterate that I don’t condone Serafin’s behavior on this board for all his repeated arrests. It is deeply concerning as Mr. Serafin or Guevara is running again for this position on the school board,” Young said. “It is crucial that our community takes a stand against this pattern of conduct. We believe that it is in the best interest of this organization, and that is why I’m asking for Serafin to step down and resign from his position so that he can seek help and treatment.”
Though Young was the only board member to speak up Tuesday about Serafin’s latest arrest, all school board members, including Serafin’s former supporters, Daniel Aquino and Erika Zamora, have previously called for him to resign.
In November 2023, amid mounting pressure, Serafin stepped down as board president, just a few weeks shy of the scheduled end of his tenure. However, he resisted pressure to resign from the board, and is pressing forward in his reelection campaign against Holmes, a mother of four who has lived in the district for 15 years and, according to her campaign statement, said she has “worked alongside teachers, administrators, parents and currently works as a student counselor.”
