Clarkston teens must pay $13,000 each for tearing up baseball field

ASOTIN – Three Clarkston boys convicted of vandalizing a baseball field in the Clarkston Heights have been ordered to pay about $13,000 each in restitution.

Court orders outlining the costs for Jesse T. Baird, 14, Cody W. Cooper, 15, and Bronson R. Flagg, 15, were recently filed in Asotin County Superior Court.

The teens were given deferred sentences earlier this year on three counts of first-degree malicious mischief and taking a motor vehicle without permission. The charges were filed after extensive damage was discovered at Prior Field, part of the Field of Dreams baseball complex at 2700 Sixth Ave.

The vandalism spree took place Nov. 29 when the trio of teens repeatedly drove a GMC Yukon in circles on muddy sod. Two athletic fields owned by the Clarkston School District also were damaged during the joyride.

According to the order of restitution, the boys must pay roughly $2,814 to the school district; $50 to Living Waters Lawn and Landscape; $21,074 to Scott Arnone, a volunteer who helped rebuild the field; $2,481 to Landscapes by Design, and $19,647 to Poe Asphalt. A $6,875 credit from donations toward repairing the fields was subtracted from the total, so each boy owes approximately $13,000.

If the kids are unable to pay the full amounts, the court can allow community service in lieu of monetary payments, according to the order signed by Judge Scott D. Gallina on Aug. 21.

Some of those details are still being worked out, said Deputy Prosecutor Craig Watt, who handled the case on behalf of the state.

Baird was represented by Clarkston attorney Brooke Burns, Flagg’s attorney was public defender Sarah McFadden and Cooper was represented by attorney Jane Richards of Asotin.