On 9/16/21, School Resource Officers (SRO) from Bartow High School were informed of damage to a boys restroom on school campus. Two soap dispensers, valued at $45.00 each, were removed from the wall. One (1) dispenser was located in the restroom sink and the other was missing.
The SROs were aware of a new national social media trend of juveniles filming themselves damaging or stealing school property. At that time, they began an investigation and located witnesses. During the course of their investigation, they did locate the suspect and arrested him for Criminal Mischief and Theft. The suspect noted he did the damage to look “cool” and take part in the social media trend. A video of him with the stolen property was located.
“I do not think it is cool to damage and steal property at your school. I hope that his arrest sends a strong message to those who are thinking about taking part in the senseless social media craze. While at school, learning is cool; stealing and damaging are not. Hopefully this young man learned a valuable lesson today that committing crime is not cool.” said Interim Chief Bryan Dorman.
The juvenile will not be identified due to his age (15 years old).
