A trail of damage runs through Lake Asbury Elementary School with few clues left behind on who could be responsible, and now, surveillance cameras have been installed to help protect the school in the future.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office responded to the school in Green Cove Springs Monday morning for a report of vandalism to the front office. That wound up leading the deputy to a host of problems across the campus, including portables and out buildings.
The incident report obtained by WOKV says the school did not have any apparent damage Sunday morning, when church services took place.
At some point after that, a school custodian did notice the door to the exterior media center ajar, but the report only says that he locked it. Another school employee is the person who reported the damage Monday morning.
The deputy’s tour of the damage started in the front office, where five paintings were destroyed, and shards of glass were scattered on the floor of a hallway. In the girl’s restroom, the deputy found soap all over the mirror. In the café, coffee creamer was spilled on the floor and someone apparently discharged the fire extinguisher as well.
The incident report says 40-50 keys were stolen from a drawer in the main office, giving access to many different parts of the campus.
In the media center, book cases were knocked over, a flag portrait was destroyed, and a projector was tampered with. More book cases were knocked over in the library, and printers were knocked over in the guidance room and conference room.
The damage didn’t stop in the main school building. The incident report says several light fixtures outside of portables and a window were shattered, more book cases were knocked over, computers were vandalized, a clock and a thermostat were destroyed, and a fridge was pushed over.
In other school buildings, several teacher desks were apparently tampered with and there was still more damage, like a damaged keyboard and glass jar.
WOKV has reached out to the Sheriff’s Office to see if there is any suspect description available, or any indication who could be responsible.
The deputy noted that there were some things out of place in his survey, including a stuffed green frog on the floor of the office, a leather hat on a desk inside a portable, and a torn green school shirt on a desk in a building.
There was no surveillance, according to the incident report, but the Clay County School District confirms to WOKV that has now changed. A District Spokeswoman says surveillance cameras were installed Tuesday.
This is the third time in just about a week that the school has been the center of an investigation.
Last Thursday, a woman saw two juveniles leaving the campus after apparently pulling a fire alarm. The alarm handle was broken and there was a shattered light fixture found as well. The juveniles seen leaving the campus were described only as white males wearing shorts and black hoodies.
Last Tuesday, there was another burglary and criminal mischief investigation on the campus. Ten computers, two keyboards, and two headphones were damaged in that incident.
We’ve asked CCSO if there could be any connection to the incidents, or if there’s been any progress tracking down the suspects in any of the cases, but haven’t yet heard back.
Cox Media Group
