WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Seven teens accused of vandalizing a new Livingston Parish school

Seven teens accused of vandalizing a new Livingston Parish school

By Tyana Williams - bio | email

DENHAM SPRINGS, LA (WAFB) - The man overseeing construction at a new Livingston Parish school says he wants the seven kids accused of vandalism to help clean up the mess.  It's a $30,000 mess.  Livingston Deputies say an anonymous tip led them to the suspects.

They say a fellow student overheard two of the teens bragging about what they had done.

At the construction site down Brown Road, off Juban, there is plenty of construction noise.  Work on Juban Parc Junior High continues but not without problems, caused by pranksters.

"They tore sheet metal up, air conditioning ducts, sheetrock for building," Lloyd Rhodus says going down a list of things that have been damaged.  Rhodus is the site superintendent. He says for weeks, crews have been finding surprises throughout the school.

At least four months ago, workers noticed someone had messed with their equipment.  A forklift was used to plow through one of the glass doors, a port-a-potty was smashed, blue spray paint covers a spot on one of the walls.  And there's more.

"Threw a bucket of tar off the roof onto concrete.  Have to try to clean it up.  Which it don't clean up easy," Rhodes says.  In fact, the wire brushes are still lying where the spots of tar won't come clean.  "It's a mess."

"More than just a prank, we don't see where they took anything.  They just did a lot of damage. Cost some people a lot of money," says Jason Ard, with the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office.

The damage is $30,000 to be exact.  Deputies say the kids range in age from 15 to 18.  18-year-old Damian Edward Quamme is charged as an adult in the vandalism.  Livingston Deputies say this is the second time Quamme has been arrested this year, for vandalizing a school.  He was also arrested on May 5, 2009 and charged with Simple Burglary of Maurepas School.

"You can't even imagine how aggravating it is. Come in see stuff tore up that you spent months trying to fix.  Gotta start all over again, plus clean up their mess," says Rhodus.

Ard says the kids lived within walking distance of the school.  They believe most of the alleged vandalism took place between 6:00-8:00pm.  A time when people may have been led to believe crews were actually working.

Ard says this arrest should remind parents to keep a close eye on their children.

"Be up in their business.  Know what your kids are doing because now you have some juvenile kids that could ultimately cost their parents some money."

Rhodus says he still thinks the best punishment is for the seven accused teens to come out and help clean up the mess.  The contractor has reordered all the supplies to fix the problems.  They are still hoping to have Juban Parc open by August of next year.

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