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Police complete vandalism investigation

Megan Strickland Daily Inter Lake | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 5 months AGO
by Megan Strickland Daily Inter Lake
| May 25, 2016 6:46 PM

Flathead High School Resource Officer Cory Clarke has completed his investigation into the May 10 vandalism at the school that has been described as a senior prank gone awry.

Now it’s up to prosecutors to decide whether or not to file charges against the 21 students involved in the incident.

On Tuesday, Clarke gave the Flathead County Attorney’s Office and Kalispell City Attorney’s Office copies of his final report.

Kalispell Police Investigations Capt. Doug Overman said that the bulk of the cases will be handled by Kalispell Deputy City Attorney Emily von Jentzen.

“We’re not going to release that report,” Overman said.

Because of court conflicts, Von Jentzen anticipated that her office would not start reviewing the cases until Friday.

According to Clarke, 21 students entered the school with the original intent of setting up annoying but harmless plastic cups full of water in a prank.

But by night’s end, thousands of dollars in damage had been done. Water fountains were ripped out of the walls, trash cans were destroyed and a large moose statue was broken. Clarke has said that two students took the incident to the extreme levels and that most of the other students involved played a minor part in the damages.

Only two of those involved are under age 18. The rest are legally adults.

All but one of the students were Flathead High School seniors. They have been barred from walking in the school’s graduation ceremony on June 3. The other student was a junior.

All the students served school suspensions.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.

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