Santa Monica Canyon residents were in shock, when a young man, Bryan Stennett attacked a magician at a child’s four-year-old birthday party in Rustic Canyon Park on Saturday.
Before being hit, the magician said he heard Stennett yell, “Turn the voices off.”
The magician thought that Stennett, 36, may have been under the influence of drugs or in a mental health crisis.
Stennett was arrested on suspicion of assault and booked into the Van Nuys jail. He was awaiting formal charges, with no court date set as of Monday evening.
Earlier he punched Ryan Allen in the face, and moments after that attacked Mike Deasy as he was going back into his house in the canyon.
The week prior, he had was acting erratically at the beach as Sharon Kilbride, the prior President of the Homeless Task Force was doing “rounds” checking on new encampments.
A person reported him Friday morning near the Bel Air Bay Club, and when the LAPD Beach tried to find him, they couldn’t.
That Friday night, a person taping at Will Rogers State Beach got a video of him, in which he reacted violently.
Later, residents learned that Stennett, 36, was not homeless or a transient but grew up in the Palisades. He went to Saint Matthews and then Loyola, graduating in 2006.
He was even mentioned in a sports write up in the Palisadian-Post in 2005. “Led by Palisadian starters C.J. Schellenberg, Jake Rosetti, Jason Holdych and James Scillacci, Loyola High won its third consecutive CIF Division I Southern Section boys volleyball championship last Saturday night at Cypress College. The second-seeded Cubs upset top-seeded Mira Costa, 15-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-22, to win their ninth CIF title, and the four locals all played together at Corpus Christi School. Schellenberg, a 6-8 senior hitter headed for USC, had 17 kills and 10 digs for the Cubs (29-5), who avenged a nonleague loss to the Mustangs in April. Other Palisadians contributing to Loyola’s victory were Brian Scilacci, Michael Lennon, Bryan Stennett and Chris Kayes.”
He grew up on Monument Streets in a home owned by his parents, which was sold in 2016. He went to Hawaii for college, according to his Facebook page.
His current address is listed on Berkely Street in Santa Monica.
Bryan Stennett ready for work in 2016.
Photo: Facebook
People in Pacific Palisades know this young man and his parents.
CTN was unable to reach his family, one source said that Bryan got sick in his 20s with possibly schizophrenia, but stopped taking medication.
There is absolutely nothing parents nor loved ones can do if adult child/siblings have a mental illness and refuse treatment.
The state has taken away all control from families. The CARE Court, which is supposed to address mental illness, is a voluntary program. People who have having manic episodes decide if they want to complete the one-year program – or not. Many are too ill to realize they need help.
When those with schizophrenia won’t take medication, the result too often is exactly what happened on Saturday. Someone mentally ill becomes violent, they act out and they are thrown in jail and develop a criminal record.
Heartbreaking.
“The state has taken away all control from families.”
How was that decided?
And, how can that be reversed?
I suggest that we solve the mental illness, homeless and drug abuse problems before we open out border to millions or spend trillions on the green new deal.
The power of family members to involuntarily commit offspring suffering mental illness was taken away by the Lanterman-Petrie-Short Act, a bipartisan bill signed into law by Governor Ronald Reagan in 1967. (See Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5000 et seq.) Governor Newsom’s CARE Court legislation modified that Act.
Hi,
Unfortunately, after parents/friends request help with the CARE act, the person with mental illness must agree to participate. The act has no teeth. There is a story about the CARE act on CTN.
Sue
I’m the magician who was attacked. I was researching the incident to see if I can find a follow-up. I’m glad you wrote about his mental health issues. I feel like there’s not enough of a focus on that. Every other article I’ve read focuses on what he did and not why he did it. My heart goes out to him as well as the others who were injured. I acknowledge that he suffering too.