Updated at the bottom with the U.S. Postal Service launching its own investigation. Also, charges have been filed. First posted at 6:09 a.m.

If he was vying to prove that postal workers are well-adjusted, mellow human beings, a mailman in Commerce was utterly unsuccessful. Allegedly.

Cops say 55-year-old Daniel Villasenor choked an 11-year-old girl outside near a park restroom building after she giggled when he accidentally went into the women's bathroom.

According to a sheriff's statement sent to the Weekly, the girl's claim …


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… was backed up by witnesses. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department says:

Several witnesses saw the postal worker get angry and choke the young girl.

It was reported at 6:20 p.m. Monday at Bristow Park in Commerce (see map above).

Deputies say they tracked down Villasenor nearby and arrested him on suspicion of “felony willful cruelty to a child.” Maybe he was just horsing around?

The postal employee was booked in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Sheriff's inmate data indicates that he's due in East Los Angeles Municipal Court this morning.

At 9 a.m. sheriff's officials will speak more about the case during a press conference.

[Update at 12:26 p.m. Wednesday]: The District Attorney's office today announced that Villasenor has been charged with suspicion of cruelty to a child and assault on park property.

The office added details to the narrative, stating that the suspect was taunted by two children at the park and that …

… He allegedly chased the girl, who ran into the women's restroom, and began choking her inside a supply room adjacent to the restroom before two city workers told him to stop.

Villasenor was due to be arraigned at 2 p.m., prosecutors say. They're asking for $15,000 bail.

[Update at 3:08 p.m.]: In a statement sent the Weekly, the U.S. Postal Service says Villasenor “has been placed in an emergency non-duty status pending investigation.”

The service has launched its own investigation into the incident, it says.

Villasenor has been with the USPS since 1981.

[Added at 5:10 p.m.]: Villasenor pleaded not guilty to all charges today, according to City News Service. He was due back in court March 5.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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