Sioux Falls police have arrested two teenagers in connection with a vandalism Wednesday at a Sioux Falls High School. Police say staff members recognized Addison Park, 18 and Alex Engel, 18 in surveillance video. They both face 3rd degree burglary charges, and Park faces petty theft for stealing backpacks.
The Sioux Falls School District is working with police after people broke into Lincoln High School. Officer Sam Clemens says a custodian noticed the damage sometime after 5:00 a.m.; police think it happened between midnight and 3:00 a.m.
"Once these people were inside, basically they just made a mess. There was some minor damage; there was a lunchroom table, a cash register, and a copy machine were all damaged," Clemens says. "Outside of that, they took some items from the kitchen like some oil and some spices and basically spread that around the different floors."
Clemens says authorities didn’t find evidence of forced entry. Officials don’t know whether the crime is a kind of prank at the end of the school year. Sioux Falls School District Superintendent Pam Homan says that doesn’t matter.
"Prank or no prank, that doesn’t enter the equation. What enters the equation is disruption to the school environment. This occurred regardless of what that intention may or may not have been, and the consequences will be managed," Homan says.
Homan says the school was clean by the two-hour late start. She says school district staff worked on the mess after Sioux Falls Police crime lab officials collected evidence.
The vandals could face felony burglary charges.