Machete spills

SANDUSKY — Star of films, television and video games, Danny Trejo spoke at Sandusky High School Friday evening. Trejo, 78, is known for appearing in the films "Spy Kids," "Con Air" and "Machete Kills." More than 500 people packed the school's auditorium for An Evening with Danny Trejo presented by the Lange Trust. Trejo spoke about his early life, addiction, sobriety and starting his own business. He opened by saying, "Hello, I'm Danny Trejo and I love Sandusky." Multiple social media posts showed Trejo interacting with locals throughout the day. He stopped in at Port Sandusky and Oh Taco for meals, lodged at Hotel Kilbourne and was spotted at Target as well as several downtown businesses. "Everything good that has happened to me is the result of helping other people," Trejo said. He described his experiences of being locked up in several California prisons. At one point, he faced serious charges as the result of a riot. After a period in the hole, or solitary confinement, Trejo had a parole hearing and was granted parole. He said a parole board member told him to come back with a life sentence so the parole board wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. At that point, he decided he needed to become a "nice guy." Out of prison and standing in front of his mother's house in August 1969 he said he thought to himself, "how am I going to be a nice guy? I've robbed everyone in this neighborhood." Then he saw one of his mom's neighbors struggling to drag her trash cans to the curb. He decided to help her. He said it made him feel good to help the woman. He explained how he and a friend started a lawn care business. They built it from the ground up and when they sold the business to pursue other avenues they had several trucks and a large crew. Trejo reiterated several times that everything good in his life had been the product of helping others. He spoke for approximately one hour and then signed autographs for nearly two hours. Copies of his books, "Trejo's Tacos: Recipes and Stories from L.A" and "Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption and Hollywood" were on sale. The septuagenarian actor sprang up after each autograph and posed for photos with those in a line that wrapped around the school's cafeteria.