A man who grabbed a 16-year-old inside a Redwood City classroom last July has been sentenced to two years and six months, yet walked out of court without heading to state prison. A judge credited him for essentially the same amount of time already spent in jail while his case crawled through the courts, a result that is again raising eyebrows over how he got onto campus in the first place and why earlier arrests did not keep him off the streets.
Sentence and plea
Trey Von Duus, 25, of Buellton pleaded no contest to attempting to kidnap a 16-year-old and was formally given a 2½-year term, prosecutors said. They told the court Duus had already logged about two years and six months in jail while awaiting resolution of the case, so he was released after sentencing, as reported by the Palo Alto Daily Post.
Scene at Sequoia High
The confrontation unfolded on July 18, 2024, when prosecutors say Duus walked into a classroom at Sequoia High School at 1201 Brewster Ave., grabbed a student and told a teacher, per the Palo Alto Daily Post, "I need to take him, I work for the government, I come with the police." A teacher stepped between Duus and the student and convinced him to leave the room, while a teaching aide locked the door behind her. Those details appear in reporting by The Almanac.
How officers subdued him
According to witnesses and prosecutors, a custodian saw Duus holding a silver steak knife, and officers fired a "less-than-lethal round," such as a rubber bullet, then tackled him when he refused to obey commands. When he kept resisting, officers used a Taser, and investigators later estimated about $1,000 in damage after Duus punched a wall in a women's restroom. In custody, he gave conflicting stories, at one point claiming he was a Russian spy trying to solve a murder a student had committed, according to the Palo Alto Daily Post.
Prior arrests and a paperwork gap
Just two days before the Sequoia High incident, Duus was arrested in Brisbane for trespassing and getting too close to customers and children, but he was released after an arraignment in which prosecutors say they did not know about a Santa Barbara felony on his record. Court records show Duus had earlier pleaded guilty in Santa Barbara to burglary and had been ordered into the Jericho Project residential treatment program, according to reporting by The Almanac. The Santa Barbara Independent previously reported on a 2021 incident in which Duus allegedly broke into a county fire official's home and was arrested on burglary and related charges; that coverage is part of the public record referenced in court filings.
Charges and reaction
Prosecutors charged Duus with attempted kidnapping, burglary, bringing a weapon onto school grounds and vandalism. The teacher who stepped in has been widely credited with preventing harm, and the campus went into lockdown while officers cleared the site. For background on the original July 2024 response, see Hoodline report.
Court records indicate Duus pleaded no contest and the criminal case was resolved through that plea and the sentencing. Local leaders and the school district say they will keep reviewing campus safety protocols, while the District Attorney's Office has provided details to local outlets and has not offered additional comment beyond what appears in court filings.
