WESTON, Fla. – Without knowing his criminal record or anticipating that he would be arrested on a second-degree felony charge over his alleged sexual conduct with a student, there were Cypress Bay High School students who felt uncomfortable around Vincent Grossi.
A Cypress Bay High School graduate said Grossi, a Math teacher at the school in Weston, gave her and other teenage girls in his classroom "the creeps." She said she felt like "he was the type of guy who would look at your butt when you walked away."
Martina Velasquez, a 9th-grade Cypress Bay High School student, said she reported the 54-year-old veteran teacher's criminal record. It includes signs of drug and alcohol abuse. She said she complained to Broward County Public Schools employees at the school and at the district last week.
"I needed to do something about it," Velasquez said.
She said she wasn't surprised when she learned Grossi, 54, was arrested Wednesday on one count of being an authority figure who solicited a student in sexual conduct, relationship of a romantic nature or lewd conduct.
Velasquez said she just doesn't understand how he could still be allowed to teach children. According to Broward County Public Schools spokeswoman Nadine Drew, he hasn't been fired; he was reassigned pending an investigation.
The district hired Grossi in January 1989. Records show in 2016 he was accused of domestic violence but a judge dismissed the case. In July 4, 2017, Grossi was arrested in Plantation for cocaine possession, failure to drive in a single lane and possession of a controlled substance. The case is pending.
Records show he was arrested May 27, 2018 for driving under the influence, failing to drive in a single lane, lack of proof of insurance and possession of an open container. He plead not guilty June 21, 2018. The case is pending in Palm Beach County court.
