An online petition is circulating in support of 61-year-old Francisca Trigueros, a longtime custodian at USC who many feel was wrongly arrested and fired in March over a suspected theft attempt that sounds much more like a grave misunderstanding.
An open letter from the school's Psychology Department breaks down the incident that lead to Trigueros's arrest on March 10, while asking faculty, students, and staff to sign it in support of a formal investigation on behalf of the maligned woman, as well as her reinstatement.
On that Thursday, Trigueros, an employee of the Aramark Corporation who has worked at USC for 24 years, was doing her job, maintaining floors 4 through 9 at the Seeley G. Mudd building at the university. While cleaning a classroom, she came across a backpack that had been left behind, which happened to have "a substantial amount of money" inside.
Such items are reportedly left with a lost and found in the main department office known as SGM 501, where staff and students go to retrieve them. However, on that day, Trigueros was unable to find anyone to report the bag to and, according to her and the letter, locked it inside of a supply closet for safekeeping.
At least one faculty member, Twyla Ponton, confirms that Trigueros has returned such lost items to SGM 501in the past. However, on that day, Ponton claims she was on vacation and that "there was no one here to receive it per se."