LaFayette Middle almost fixed after vandals

Officials at LaFayette Middle School say there’s little sign that vandals struck here Nov. 7, but they’re still waiting on some electronic equipment to be replaced.

Principal Mike Culberson said replacement televisions, a refrigerator and some teaching supplies are still pending, but several windows, fire extinguishers, telephones and computers are fixed, replaced or recovered.

Despite the estimated $10,500 in damage, the vandalism didn’t disrupt classes “because the administration and head custodian worked all weekend to clean it up and make the necessary repairs,” Mr. Culberson said. “The biggest damage was in the cleanup itself.”

LaFayette police arrested a 14-year-old student at the school and also arrested Jeremy Keith Crabtree, 18, of LaFayette, Ga. Both were charged with burglary, two counts of entering an auto and criminal interference with government property, all felonies, authorities said.

The teens were arrested after LaFayette Police Department officers responded to an alarm at the middle school and found the pair’s car in a ditch on the property, said LaFayette police Lt. Robert Tate.

Officers found broken windows, damaged bleachers, phones ripped from walls, bookshelves overturned and six laptop computers missing from a classroom, Lt. Tate said.

He said investigators were able to match shoe prints inside the school where some fire extinguishers had been sprayed to shoes worn by one of the teens. Six laptop computers were recovered and returned to the school, he said.

There is no timeline on when the remaining electrical items can be replaced, Mr. Culberson said. School officials will seek restitution when the teens’ cases go to court, he said.

Authorities said court hearings haven’t been scheduled yet for either suspect.