Youths nabbed after break-ins

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Stolen items are recovered, and families face school district fines.

Three students described as “good kids” face charges and fines after vandalizing school buildings last week, police say.

The youths, Bainbridge boys ages 15, 15 and 16, were identified as suspects and admitted their involvement over the weekend, Bainbridge Police Detective Scott Anderson said.

Items stolen from the schools in the March 15-16 break-ins were recovered.

“The boys were all forthcoming and cooperative and so were their parents,” Anderson said. “That part was refreshing.”

One youth, who police said entered the Commodore Center and Bainbridge High School on consecutive nights using a set of stolen keys, was taken to the juvenile detention facility in Port Orchard, police said.

The other youths, each of whom broke into the schools just once, were released to their parents. The cases were referred to the juvenile prosecutor for charging.

School officials initially reported the break-ins as a single incident after finding buildings vandalized early March 16.

Police subsequently learned that the first break-in occurred a day earlier. Suspects made off with a two-way security radio and more keys to the school buildings, but did not cause any obvious damage, so the incident went unnoticed.

The second night’s foray resulted in vandalism and racist slurs and obscenities scrawled on blackboards. The messages were reportedly aimed at a school security guard who is a minority.

“A good generic term for it is graffiti, and it was highly objectionable,” Anderson said.

The youths reportedly told friends they had gotten into the schools, and various youths conveyed that information to police. The suspects were confronted by police on Friday evening and admitted their involvement, Anderson said.

A number of stolen items – including security radios, computer hardware, electronic devices and compact discs, some of which hadn’t even been noticed as missing – were recovered.

Ken Crawford, superintendent of Bainbridge schools, said the cost to clean up the mess – which included fire extinguishers discharged throughout the buildings – has yet to be totaled up. When that cost is known, the youths and their families will be fined by the school district.

Anderson said the youths did not seem to have prior records.

“All three boys, from what I can tell, have no history with the school district or the police department for any misdeeds,” he said, “and would commonly be classified as ‘good kids.’”