Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Christopher Farmer, the interim principal at Redwood Middle School, inspects some of the the school's broken windows.

Redwood suffers rash of vandalism

Middle school, neighbors have been hit half a dozen times since June

By Michelle Alaimo

Redwood Middle School is working to repair some $10,000 to $15,000 in damage done by vandals since the middle of June. In six separate incidents since June 19, the school has had doorknobs and about 30 windows broken and graffiti written across walls.

The vandals have also targeted 12 mailboxes on nearby Taos and Montauk drives, damaging one of the mailboxes and knocking the others off their bases.

"It looks like vandalism just for the sake of destroying stuff," said Sheriff's Deputy Greg Taylor of the Westside substation.

The latest rash of vandalism began Aug. 1, when the letters "BSO" were tagged on several walls around the school. It was also the first incident in which windows were broken, in this case on two resource room doors.

According to Deputy Steven Grisenti, eight windows were broken at the school on Aug. 6, and someone tried to pry open a door to get into the teachers' lounge. Neighbors around the school found four of their mailboxes knocked over.

The biggest incident occurred on the night of Aug. 11. Taylor said about 21 windows were broken at the school, and eight mailboxes, one which was damaged, were knocked over.

The vandals used rocks and rubble from bathrooms being renovated to break the windows, Taylor said, adding that all three incidents occurred between midnight and 6 a.m.

The sheriff's department is following up on some leads, Taylor said, and if all the incidents turn out to be related, the suspects are looking at a felony charge because of the high dollar amount of the cumulative damage. Suspects would be charged with a misdemeanor if the incidents are not related and the particular suspect caused less than $5,000 in damage.

Taylor said the first two incidents, which occurred on June 19 and June 23, are probably related to each other. These incidents involved obscene words, directed toward teachers and other students, being scrawled across walls.

Another graffiti attack occurred sometime between July 7 and 8, but Taylor said he cannot be sure the incident is related to the June occurrences.

Redwood Middle School's interim principal, Christopher Farmer, said, "People are working hard to get the school ready for the new school year." He added that a contractor started repairs on the broken windows on Aug. 13. The school is currently working with deputies on ways to stop the vandalism and catch the people responsible.

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