Paint Scratched, Stereos Stolen From Cars Parked At G Prep

A healthy North Side rivalry between Mead High and Gonzaga Prep was overshadowed by car breakins during a football game last Thursday.

Burglars stole at least five car stereos and scratched the paint on several cars parked at Gonzaga Prep during a game played at Joe Albi Stadium.

The cars belonged to players and parents who bused or carpooled to the stadium.

Gonzaga Prep principal Al Faulkner says there is no evidence that Mead students or supporters were behind the crime.

But several parents, he said, linked earlier vandalism by Mead High students with the break-ins. Mead students draped toilet paper, crepe paper and straw across the Gonzaga Prep campus Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

“Some parents wanted to make the connection, but there is no proof of that,” said Faulkner.

Police were notified, Faulkner said. But Sgt. Earl Ennis said he hadn’t heard of the incident.

Hard feelings over the toilet paper and straw were quickly diminished when, at Faulkner’s request, Mead co-principal Mike Dunn and the school student body officers spent two hours cleaning the campus Friday morning.

Many of the Mead students knew their Gonzaga Prep counterparts who escorted them, and the clean-up session turned friendly. Gonzaga students sprung for donuts.

“It really ended up being a positive thing,” said Faulkner.

Eight Mead students were disciplined for vandalizing Gonzaga Prep’s campus with straw and paper. They are sending Gonzaga Prep an apology and will do community service, Mead High co-principal Mick Mller said.

The eight students “were sick” about the car break-ins and didn’t know the culprits, Miller said.

Miller told his students Friday that both incidents reflected poorly on the school.

“We want to be thought of as a school that supports itself in a positive way,” said Miller.

Rivalry between the schools has brewed for almost a decade, since Mead ended the Bullpups’ run of football dominance. The game Thursday ended dramatically, with Mead’s Keith Stamps nailing a 29-yard field goal late in the game to give the Panthers a 24-21 win.

“Our rivalry with Mead has always been good,” said Faulkner.

“I sure hope we don’t develop a rivalry based on a negative thing,” said Miller.

Mead authorities wouldn’t want blame for the break-ins for another reason: the burglars misspelled “Prep” when they scratched it into a car.

Roofers’ torch sparks fire

Roofers working on a North Side house Saturday morning accidentally sparked a fire in the home’s attic.

No one was injured in the blaze at 4327 N. Washington, although a firefighter narrowly escaped injury when he fell through the roof onto the attic floor.

A roofer using an open-flame torch to dry the rain-soaked area around a vent accidently set the attic insulation on fire, said city fire Battalion Chief Joe Stapleton. The fire quickly spread to the wood trusses in the roof.

Roofers were spraying the flames with a garden hose when firefighters arrived about 9:40 a.m.

One of the roofers was shocked by a low-level power box and had his hair and eyebrows singed while fighting the fire. He was not injured, Stapleton said.

Cyd Combs, the owner of the house, was home when the fire started. Both Combs and the roofing company have insurance on the home, Stapleton said.

, DataTimes