RANGELEY – Police have charged two boys with breaking into the Rangeley Lakes Regional School and causing thousands of dollars worth of damage in the building.
On Aug. 3, a school maintenance employee reported to police that a break in and vandalism at the building had occurred, which included anti-Semitic symbols and language spray painted onto walls, floors and equipment, according to Rangeley Police Chief Russell French.
The break-in occurred either Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning of Aug. 2 or Aug. 3 with access achieved through a maintenance door on the school building’s roof. The majority of the vandalism occurred in a large two-story storage area with paint and oil found at the scene.
Once in the school, spray paint and other materials from the storage room were used to cause damage in excess of $8,000, French said. Other materials used to graffiti the room included regular paint poured from the second floor onto the first floor, and cooking oil students used for making popcorn at fund raisers. The oil was poured over equipment and soaked into wooden staging platforms used in performances.
French said it will take a lot of work to clean up the mess and the wood items damaged will need to be refinished.
The majority of the damage occurred in a second floor storage area. The damage included walls, floors, heat ducts, sections of stage, furniture, a Yamaha musical keyboard and other classroom equipment items.
“Some of the graffiti included anti-Semitic language, swastikas, racial slurs and anti-police statements,” Chief French said.
Vandalism at the school has occurred in the past. The investigation started with a list of possible suspects who may have fit the crime, using the content of some of the graffiti as a guide.
“We started talking to people,” French said. The interviews and following up on alibis led to one of the 17-year-old suspects. On meeting with the teenager, the investigator found paint on the sole of the suspect’s shoe which reportedly matched the paint used at the school.
Police have charged two 17-year-old males, one of Rangeley and the other of Avon, with Class C felony burglary and Class C felony aggravated criminal mischief. A juvenile court date has been set for Oct. 6. French didn’t know if they attended or had attended the school in either Rangeley or Mt. Abram.
“I’m glad this crime was solved in a timely manner for the community,” French said.
make them help clean the mess. It’ll make them think long and hard about what they did.
Make them pay for the damages they have caused plus community service bet they won’t do it again!!!
Considering the fact that they misspelled Mt Abram I’m guessing they didn’t go there or they weren’t top of their class. Although, this incident and how they were caught proves they aren’t very bright.
Regardless of where they attended school or how they were raised (please don’t jump on the ‘blame the parents’ band wagon), these boys made their own poor decisions. And to think, they are almost old enough to vote.
Full restitution, community service, and anti-discrimination counseling.
I agree with making them pay for damages; as for community service and cleaning…cleaning should be done with a toddler toothbrush and community service should be performed in chains all while a Old Fashioned Drill Sergeant is barking at them. From the looks of it these two could benefit from some good ol’ fashioned discipline…not abuse but discipline.
If all these two kids get is a little community service for the crime it sure won’t teach them anything. They should be made to clean up the mess they created plus pay the 8,000 in damages..I agree with making them clean with a toothbrush…they should be made to wear a sign saying they broke into the school and made a mess and now cleaning it up..yea, maybe a little harsh but maybe they will think twice
These kids need to grow up and stop acting like morons. I don’t blame the parents because these kids are old enough to know better and it wasn’t their parents who did all that stupid stuff. I think they should get on their hands and knees and clean the floors with hot water and ammonia. I used to scrub floors for people like that. Won’t kill them. And they should make a public apology in front of all the students when school re-opens. Make them work for no pay as a janitor, too.
So sad to see the physical damage done and also the assault on all our sensibilities. What a shame to waste so many of those tangible resources, together with the humiliating behavior of those boys. I suspect that there may have been signs of such alienation prior to carrying out this vandalism. If so, that should be addressed when they go to court. Meanwhile, where are they?
In custody? Will they start classes as scheduled?
These two are not “kids” any longer. They are 17 years old. Too bad we don’t have caning in this country for instances just like this. Community service I don’t thing will help and besides the parents will be the ones to pay for the damages.
I believe they should be made to clean up the mess and pay the eight thousand dollars. They could become the janitor to pay it off.
Don’t do the crime if you don’t plan on doing the time.
Hopefully the almost adullts have to pay for this and the parents don’t pay it for them!
They absolutely need to clean up the mess they created . Also making them work everyday after school cleaning to help repay for the damages.They need to repay themselves not parents do it . Seems like they could earn 4000.00 each during the school year .May make them think twice. They are old enough to be out during those hours the damage is done they are old enough to do the time it takes to do restitution. Maybe they will sleep at night instead of looking for trouble
I’m sure this was the young lads first confrontation with the law. Naturally, we should go easy on them and have one of our friendly counselors give each of them a donut and tell him to stick closer to church-oriented social activities. That should do the trick.
I’m very concerned about the Nazi / Anti-Semitic writing. This is not what I expect from kids growing up around here.
Idles hands do the devils work 👐🏻
Me, personally, I blame Bush
Really? I must be the only parent who thinks it’s my responsibility to raise respectful, law-abiding children. Why is it that everyone always says “don’t blame the parents”?! From my own personal encounters with parents and kids these days, I’d say a lot more fault can fall in the parents laps than anyone wants to realize.
“Personally” you think the same way as I. If these Kids (because mentally thats the way they have acted) where raised to have accountability for their actions this would not happen. Ill bet if they are honest and look back in the child history they, have more hours on a video game then spent with parents, outdoors, or organized sports combined!
Parents may have given the same environment to their children and most of the kids don’t break the law. Some do. Just because someone thinks it’s all the parents’ fault, that isn’t true. Some kids never break the law and their parents don’t, either. These “kids” are responsible for their behavior — not their parents
It’s ARMY time!
JustSayinng!…. Not in my Army…. don’t want em….
Despite these kids’ horrible behavior, I hope they don’t get a felony record because it will make it hard in the future for them to get a job and be honest citizens. Still, I think public apologies and working off their crime should be done. And I don’t think the parents should have to pay for it. Also, stop them from being friends with each other. A lot of times, there is a leader and a follower and when the two combine, disaster happens.
Not Bush’s fault..you have to blame it on governor LePage…I know he made them do it!!!
Do any of the charges have anything to do with anti-semitism or hate crimes?