Eberwhite School break-in: Teens accused of smashing glass, spraying fire extinguishers
Eberwhite Elementary School was broken into and vandalized early Saturday morning.
Chris Asadian | AnnArborcom
Ann Arbor police took four teenagers into custody after an early-morning break-in Saturday at Eberwhite Elementary School. The teens are suspected of discharging fire extinguishers along with other vandalism, police said.
Ann Arbor police Lt. Renee Bush said the break-in was reported at 2 a.m. Saturday. Officers went to the school, 800 Soule Blvd., after an alarm went off and investigators met school representatives at the scene, Bush said.
Bush said officers saw four to six people running southeast away from the school toward a pocket of woods while doing a check of the building’s perimeter. A chase ensued, and police caught one of the teenagers, she said.
The damage to the school was extensive. The intruders apparently broke out a window on the north face of the building in order to open the locked door from the inside, Bush said. In addition, several screens on exterior windows were removed and there were multiple broken windows on the outside of the building, Bush said.
Inside the building, the teenagers are believed to have discharged fire extinguishers, overturned furniture and broken a glass door, Bush said. In addition, a fire extinguisher was thrown through a glass window, she said.
Police identified the three other teenagers through additional investigation and took them into custody, Bush said.
Because the teenagers are juveniles and have not been arraigned, Ann Arbor police did not released their names Monday morning.
A monetary estimate for the amount of damage done to the school was not immediately available Monday morning.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
grye
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 7:08 p.m.
Brains not fully developed yet. Go figure.
Kk Ichikawa
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 7:17 a.m.
...rumor mill also has it that they broke into Dicken Elementary earlier in the evening as well....same thing, forced entry with damage inside the school?? AA.com care to confirm??
BhavanaJagat
Tue, Jun 12, 2012 : 4:48 p.m.
Schools and Character Development : I am glad to read about the apprehension of culprits involved in this act of vandalism. I am pleased to note that the 'alarm' worked and had alerted people to ask for Police assistance. We have been using Schools for the intellectual development of our children. This incident shows that children are not developing well-integrated personalities and are lacking in qualities such as 'character'. We can blame the parents, the society, the kids, the culture and so on. We insist that children must have records of their vaccination and immunization to get enrolled in Public Schools. What about Character and Personality? Who is responsible? If protecting health is important, we must give attention to the Whole Person and start molding emotions into proper behavior from a very young age.
JRW
Tue, Jun 12, 2012 : 2:12 p.m.
"I hope they throw the book at them ..whatever that means. Too many teen age kids get away with crimes ,and get to feeling invulnerable . This can lead to much more heinous crimes in the future." Totally agree. And make their names and photos available on AAdotcom. Make an example of them and that will be a deterrent.
RJA
Tue, Jun 12, 2012 : 4:36 a.m.
To many parents don't know where their teenagers are in todays world. My son (now in his 50's) was never out past 11:pm until he was 18. Yes, he dated, had a new auto but played by my rules while living at home. He knew where his parents were and we knew where he was.
rhonda
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 7:22 p.m.
and when I called the parents involved in the New Year's Eve vandalism of my car, they said "can you prove criminal intent" and "do you have fingerprints" AAPS and the parents really need a wake up call here!
martini man
Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 11:43 p.m.
I hope they throw the book at them ..whatever that means. Too many teen age kids get away with crimes ,and get to feeling invulnerable . This can lead to much more heinous crimes in the future.
JRW
Tue, Jun 12, 2012 : 2:11 p.m.
Totall agree.
snacks
Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 10:40 p.m.
as long as we are talking about the rumor mill rumor has it that this isn't the first offense for some of the kids.
DNB
Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 6:43 p.m.
The Pioneer rumor mill ... they are all sophomores at Pioneer. They are not apparently on the college career track, either. That's probably all I can say without being deleted.
Ann
Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 5:15 p.m.
Hopefully these juveniles are not former students of Eberwhite. That would be even more disappointing. As a former Ann Arbor teacher, it was always heartwarming to see how many students returned around graduation time just to try and capture a peak at their beginnings. As far as college, that can't be a goal they have in mind. There are far more kids doing the right things than these disrespectful ones.
Momma G
Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 5:13 p.m.
Their parents should be so proud of them or should I say "Where were their parents?" And, why were they not at home at that hour, if they are juveniles? I think names should be published and they better be made to pay for the damages.
Dave
Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 4:43 p.m.
I hope this sticks to their record and their future college plans are put in check because of it. Paying for the damage isn't enough and doesn't deter kids from doing this stuff again. They should be prepared to be made examples of.
Genboy
Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 7:07 p.m.
I disagree, respectfully. There's such a disappointing, pervasive social attitude these days that when someone does something wrong, they need to pay very dearly. No one deserves to have the rest of their life ruined because they did something idiotic. Our goal as a community should be to turn them into decent citizens. I don't have an answer how to do that, but a positive attitude by the rest of us would help. (And, to argue a specific point, "making examples" of people is no more a deterrent than the death penalty. I don't think these kids were thinking about examples. Making examples of offenders just fulfills the need of all us judgmental people to feel that revenge has been had.)
a2grateful
Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 4:21 p.m.
The weekend started well. . . Eberwhite's ice cream social Friday evening was great, as usual. Too bad the vandalism incident occurred to dampen year-end school festivities. It's tough on everyone involved. . . police, administrators, teachers, Eberwhite Elementary students. . . The vandalism makes little sense. . . Certainly, the vandals and their parents are feeling great pain. . . with looming potential for criminal charges, court proceedings, criminal records, costs, fines, restitution, punishment, altered future plans. . . Sad, sad, sad. A lose-lose scenario. . . Kudos, however, to AAPD for catching the one that revealed identities of the rest. . .