Two teenagers were arrested Tuesday and charged with breaking into a local business and vandalizing Lake Weir High School.
Hunter Lee Alexander, 17, and Anthony Rich, 16, are accused of causing thousands of dollars in damage to the business, Safety Kleen, and the high school they attend. The two are facing multiple felony charges.
According to a Marion County Sheriff’s Office report, officials from Safety-Kleen Systems in Ocala reported Tuesday morning that someone had broken into one of their sheds the night before, stolen several cans of spray paint and vandalized several pieces of equipment with the paint, including a semi-truck, a trailer and three railroad tanker rail cars. They said the graffiti contained several offensive words and images.
Lake Weir’s school resource officer, Deputy Erik Deangelis, also found similar offensive graffiti scattered across the campus Tuesday morning on trash cans, windows, a concrete patio pad, a gazebo in the school’s courtyard, the band room wall and both concession stands by the football field. One of the concession stands also had been broke into, the report says, adding that items inside were broken and a fire extinguisher had been discharged.
In addition, the seat to an ROTC golf cart was flipped up and two wires had been pulled out.
Later Tuesday, Deangelis identified both Alexander and Rich as suspects. He noted that both had paint on their hands when he met with them.
During a subsequent interview with property crimes Detective Wady Sedan, the teenagers admitted to the burglaries and vandalisms of both the business and the school, the report said.
Rich admitted to discharging the fire extinguisher and said he also let the air out of the golf cart’s tires. Alexander admitted to ripping the wires out from under the seat of the golf cart. And each claimed that the other one ripped the seat off the cart, the report says.
Both teenagers were charged with two counts of felony criminal mischief, two counts of burglary to an unoccupied structure and one count of burglary to an unoccupied conveyance (vehicle). Rich also was charged with one count of discharging a fire extinguisher.
The teens were booked into the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center. Alexander was later released to a guardian and given a notice to appear in court per his juvenile probation officer, while Rich was still being held Wednesday afternoon.
Damage to the school is estimated to be between $2,500 and $3,000. Damage to the semi-truck, trailer and railroad tanker cars at Safety-Kleen Systems, a company that provides services such as collecting and recycling oil, providing industrial cleaning, and handling industrial waste, was estimated at $1,150, with the stolen paint valued at $90.
Two keys that were taken from Safety-Kleen, one to a Bobcat tractor and another to a semi-truck, were recovered.
