St. Charles vandalism leads to five juvenile arrests
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, January 8, 2008
By ROBIN SHANNON
Staff Reporter
HAHNVILLE – St. Charles Police arrested five juveniles Monday in connection with vandalism at a Destrehan elementary school.
The Sheriff’s Office is also looking into a series of other complaints over the weekend regarding property damage in the Ormond Subdivision.
Capt. Pat Yoes, public information officer for the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office, said the juvenile offenders, ranging in age from 16-17, were apprehended Monday afternoon after information from the investigation tied the youths to the scene of the damage. Yoes said after each child was questioned by deputies the juveniles confessed to shooting out several overhead streetlights in the bus circle of Ethel Scoeffner Elementary School, located at 140 Plantation Rd. in Destrehan.
Yoes said the boys were using pellet guns, and no one was injured during the incident. The boys were
taken into custody, and charged with simple criminal damage and illegal discharge of a weapon. After confessing to the vandalism, the boys were released to their parents.
Deputies are also looking into numerous acts of vandalism that took place over the weekend behind homes on the golf course in Ormond. Yoes said residents found swing sets, mailboxes, and birdbaths damaged. The activity occurred in the area of Villere, Bocage, Belle Helene, Rosedown, and Belle Grove.
There was also damage to a golf course bathroom, and lawn furniture was found thrown into the ponds on the course.
Yoes said the acts in Ormond and the vandalism at the school are unrelated, but investigators believe juveniles were involved.
Yoes said the investigation is ongoing, and police have numerous leads they are following. Anyone who has information regarding the vandalism is asked to call The St. Charles Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Bureau at 985-783-1135 or the communications center at 783-6807.