Police say pair, who got the idea from TV, confessed to the racist scrawl and messages spread in Dade City.
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
Published August 2, 2003
DADE CITY - The History Channel urges viewers to "Watch, Listen, Explore." Maybe it should add:
Don't try this at home.
Police said Saturday they had caught those responsible for scrawling racist graffiti on a several businesses and homes.
They are two white boys, 12 and 14, who got the idea from watching the History Channel, said Dade City Detective Robert Shireman.
"They saw an episode in reference to the KKK," Shireman said.
Over the past weekend and into the start of the week, the boys drew racial slurs and swastikas on Dade City businesses and left similar racist messages on paper in residential mailboxes, police said.
As a joke, police say, the two also put pages of naked women torn from pornographic magazines in the mailboxes.
"They found some humor" in this, Shireman said.
More than 20 complaints poured into police this week.
One boy lives in Dade City and the other lives just outside the city, Shireman said.
Police were led to the boys Thursday and Friday morning after talking with children in the area and finding what turned out to be the boys' clothing and more drawings of swastikas in a wooded area.
"They did confess and realized that they did something wrong," he said. "Their parents were shocked and extremely cooperative."
Because the boys have clean records, they will be placed in the juvenile diversion program. If the boys successfully complete the program - which could call for counseling or community service - their records will stay clean.
If they don't complete the program, they will be charged with criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, Shireman said.
"What it was," he said, "was juveniles with too much time on their hands."
