More Vandalism Discovered At Two Valley Schools

Burglars have vandalized Spokane Valley elementary schools for the fourth time in three weeks, hitting one of the schools for a second time.

McDonald Elementary was broken into early Saturday and the school’s office ransacked. Arthur B. Ness Elementary also was broken into late Friday or early Saturday.

The weekend burglaries were the third and fourth at Valley schools in recent weeks. Saturday was the second time in less than a week that McDonald has been broken into.

Tooth necklaces, given to students who lose a tooth at school, were the only things missing, said sheriff’s Deputy David Reagan. Several of the one-inch plastic hollow teeth with hinged lids were taken, he said.

Nothing was missing from Ness Elementary, said Principal Tom Moore.

Burglars made off with a considerably more expensive haul from McDonald Elementary on May 13. Two computer systems and an ink jet printer were taken during that burglary.

Computer equipment valued at $15,000 also was taken from Pratt Elementary on April 27. Three teenagers were seen leaving the area in an early 1970s Chevrolet four-door car.

No arrests have been made in any of the burglaries.

A McDonald Elementary employee discovered Saturday’s vandalism about 8 a.m. No damage estimate was available, but deputies said burglars left the school a mess.

“It sounds like they just ransacked it,” Reagan said.

A door leading to the school’s office was forced open, damaging the door and its frame. Several drawers in the office had been emptied onto the floor. In the hallway, papers that had hung on the wall littered the floor.

A teacher at Ness Elementary noticed broken glass and discovered the school’s office was in disarray about 9 a.m. Saturday. Deputies said someone broke in after 9 p.m. Friday.

Glass on the south side door was broken with a hammer, Reagan said. The suspect then used the hammer to smash glass on the locked office door.

Several drawers in the office were open. Deputies recovered the hammer and several partial fingerprints, Reagan said. The school has an alarm, but it apparently did not go off, he said.

Damage to the school was minor, Moore said.

Deputies have few clues as to who is responsible for the recent break-ins, but believe “the suspect (in the second McDonald Elementary burglary) had to be fairly small because the opening is fairly restrictive,” Reagan said.

The school district is considering placing a nighttime security guard at McDonald Elementary, said Skip Bonucelli, Central Valley spokesman.

Burglars have broken windows to get into each of the schools. However, there are no other obvious similarities among the break-ins.

Lt. Danny O’Dell, who heads the Sheriff’s Department’s property crimes unit, said research shows it is not uncommon for a second crime to be committed.

“When they find a thing that they like to do they are going to continue to do it until they are caught,” O’Dell said.

, DataTimes