ENTERING & BREAKING PART ONE: I got two cases of juvenile delinquents with a taste for vandalism. In the first, three Sligh Middle School students were spotted entering a private residence on Fern Street. The witnesses flagged down a marked police cruiser and informed the officer of what was transpiring. The officer called for backup, and the suspects were quickly rounded up. Per the report: "Further investigation revealed that the suspects vandalized the inside of a house under renovation; spilled/threw paint where it did not belong, turned on the water and left it running, flooding the floors, broke windows and threw tangerines against the wall." All three fruit-flingers were on probation for burglary and related crimes (shocking!), and were charged with (among other things) violating their parole.
ENTERING & BREAKING PART TWO: In the second case, a juvenile forced his way into an empty duplex on 48th Street in Tampa. Once inside the home, the suspect and an accomplice "used an unknown object to smash large holes in the walls" causing about $1,500 in damage. A witness drawn to the duplex by all the noise spotted the suspects fleeing from the building. Fortunately for the homeowner, the witness recognized the suspects and was able to give police enough information to arrest one of the suspects and positively ID the other.
BUS'TED: I also got two cases of juvenile crime related to Tampa school buses. In the first, an unknown juvenile threw a rock through the window of a Hillsborough County school bus as the bus "was transporting students of Franklin Middle School home" at the end of the day. The rock broke the window, showering students with glass and causing some minor cuts. The bus driver returned to the school where the students were transferred to another bus. In the second incident, "unknown person(s)" painted gang graffiti on two school buses and numerous buildings at Monroe Middle School. The crime lab took some photos, but at this point the perpetrators have not been apprehended.
From the files of the T.P.D.
This article appears in Mar 7-13, 2007.