Vandals got inside Tarpon Springs while the school was closed during the Thanksgiving holiday.
By CANDACE RONDEAUX
Published December 2, 2003
TARPON SPRINGS - Profanity, paint and pudding.
That's what vandals left behind when they broke into Tarpon Springs Middle School and went on a holiday weekend rampage.
Police said Monday they don't know how many people were involved in the break-in. They're not even sure exactly when the vandals decided to splatter the school's cafeteria with loads of chocolate pudding and raspberry gelatin. There's no telling how long they were in the school.
But one thing's for certain: there's no love lost between the culprits and school principal Keith Davis.
The vandals spray-painted an expletive in a message addressed to Davis on several walls and in stairwells around the school sometime during the last week, police said.
"That seems to be the way things are these days," Davis said Monday. "Kids seem to be into retaliation whenever they don't get what they want."
Davis said Monday that the vandalism incident on the school's campus at 501 N Florida Ave. was the first of its kind in roughly a decade, and he was not sure why the messages had been left. In addition to the angry messages directed at Davis, the word "zero" and symbols that appeared to resemble gang signs were spray-painted inside the school, Davis said.
The vandals also threw chocolate pudding and raspberry gelatin all over the school's cafeteria and dumped large containers of spices on the floor, Davis said. They also discharged a fire extinguisher inside the school, police said.
School cafeteria manager Peggy Johnson discovered the sticky mess around 5:30 a.m. Monday. She had just arrived to begin preparing meals for the school's 1,565 students, Davis said.
There were no signs of forced entry at the school building, said Tarpon Springs police Sgt. Jeff Young.
The school closed all week for the Thanksgiving holiday, Davis said. He said he and other faculty members may have briefly stopped in at the school over the weekend to catch up with paperwork. But the building was otherwise unoccupied until staff and students returned to school Monday, he said.
"The school was secured," Davis said. "If there was a door ajar we're not sure. We're trying to work our security out."
Police said Monday afternoon that they are still investigating the incident.
Anyone with information about the vandalism case may call the Tarpon Springs Police Department at (727) 938-2840.
