Charges pending against vandalism suspects
Megan Strickland | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years, 1 month AGO
‘Totally unrelated’ to Flathead High case
Charges are pending against two 15-year-old boys who allegedly went on a vandalism spree on the southwest side of Kalispell Monday night or early Tuesday morning.
Authorities say the two youths involved were not part of the vandalism inside Flathead High School earlier this month.
“It’s not a repeat of what happened at the high school,” Flathead High School Resource Officer Cory Clarke said. “They are totally unrelated.”
On Tuesday morning, Kalispell Police received reports of spray-painting on 21 vehicles, Bethel Baptist Church and Legends Stadium. The damage totaled approximately $4,000, although Kalispell Police Administrative Capt. Wade Rademacher said it was difficult to calculate a damage estimate immediately.
“It’s hard to tell because you have so many different victims,” Rademacher said. “It will take a while to figure that out.”
Clarke said some information came to light on Tuesday that gave police a good idea who the suspects were. Clarke and Glacier High School Resource Officer Chad Fetveit received information from six students on Wednesday after announcements were made at both schools that rewards might be available through Crimestoppers for any information that led to convictions.
Clarke said that a review of security cameras at Legends Field showed dark shadowy suspects for less than 10 seconds. One of the suspects allegedly jumped up on a ledge and painted over the security camera, Clarke said.
“The camera was dark,” Clarke said. “It just basically shows two shapes. Now that I have two suspects, the body styles of both suspects match what I can see on the video.”
As of Friday afternoon, no one had been detained in the case, though Rademacher said charges are pending and will likely be filed in Flathead Youth Court.
“The investigation is ongoing,” Rademacher said.
The police department is not releasing the names of the suspects because they are underage. Clarke said that one boy is a student at Flathead High School and the other boy does not attend school.
Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.
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