On Dec. 1, 2022, Sheriff’s detectives arrested a former Mt. San Antonio College tram driver on suspicion of killing another tram driver on campus. The suspect, 38-year-old James Milliken, was driving the car that struck 63-year-old Rafael Barragan Jr. near one of the school buildings on Dec. 1, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Mt. San Antonio College)
A 38-year-old man accused of intentionally hitting and killing a former co-worker with his car at Mt. San Antonio College called the victim out by name in an October 2021 social media post in which he claimed he was treated unfairly while he worked at the college.
A Facebook page matching the suspect’s name, James Milliken, shows a post with eight photos that appeared to be screenshots of a Word document, in which he said he was “degraded, discarded,” and “in disbelief about how inhuman (sic) I have been treated,” while also announcing he was quitting his position as a tram driver at the college.
Jill Dolan, Mt. SAC spokeswoman, confirmed Saturday the profile belonged to Milliken. School officials had no further comment on the post.
Milliken was arrested on suspicion of murder Thursday about a half hour after Rafael Barragan Jr., 63, of Pomona, was found dead on campus, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and inmate records. (School officials identified the victim as Ralph Barragan.)
Milliken is being held in jail on $2 million bail, according to inmate records.
In the post, Milliken accuses his co-workers of treating him unfairly, making racist comments, spreading rumors about him and commenting on his hair. Personal emails to his supervisor, including human resources complaints and a request for bereavement leave, were made public among his co-workers because someone had access to the supervisor’s email account, he wrote.
In one paragraph, he names Barragan and claims Barragan threatened him on multiple occasions and convinced others to harass him. No other employees were directly named in the post.
“Me keeping these things to myself only empowers those who have committed these acts against me to continue with this type of degradation,” Milliken allegedly wrote. “But also allows them to treat others the same way.”
Mt. SAC president William T. Scroggins, in a Thursday statement, described Barragan as “one of our campus’s shining lights.”
The crash occurred just outside Building 9A about 7:30 a.m., Thursday morning, sheriff’s and school officials said. The building number correlates to the campus bookstore on the northwest side of the campus, according to a campus map. Barragan was a pedestrian, authorities said.
Coroner’s officials said he died of sharp and blunt force injuries.
Los Angeles Sheriff’s Lt. Patty Thomas said Milliken remained at the scene as law enforcement officials arrived, but she would not say why they believe the crash was intentional. Nor is it clear if there were witnesses or if so, what they told authorities.
Both Barragan and Milliken were tram drivers at the college.
Barragan had worked there since 2007 after a 23-year career as a bus driver for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. His loss “has been heartbreaking for our campus community,” Scroggins said Friday.
School officials planned a memorial to Barragan outside the Student Services Center for Monday, Dec. 5.
Milliken worked at the school from October 2016 to September 2021, school officials said. He attended the college as a student starting in 2010. In a biography on the college website, which has since been taken down, he said he joined the Marine Corps after high school graduation and served in Iraq in mid-2004 and 2005.
Milliken was scheduled to appear in court Monday, according to inmate records.
Originally published at Nathaniel Percy