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Teens arrested in vandalism at youth center

The three knew the center's layout well because it was one of their favorite hangouts.

By VANESSA DE LA TORRE
Published May 13, 2006

CRYSTAL BEACH - The mischief started when one teen took a screwdriver from a motorcycle parked behind the Crystal Beach Youth Center.

It was about 7 a.m. on a school day, April 5. Along with two friends, he used the tool to unlock the building's back door, then entered the place where the three had spent countless hours throughout the years.

The three boys then took turns kicking in doors and watching television, said Pinellas County sheriff's Detective Kenneth M. Sokolowski. The two 14-year-old Tarpon Springs Middle School students and a 15-year-old Palm Harbor University High student were all arrested this week on charges of commercial burglary. After alternating between lounging, dumping water on computers and smashing door frames for an hour or two, the teens discharged a fire extinguisher, coating much of the furniture and walls with white powder a professional cleaner will have to remove, Sokolowski said.

Then the teens walked out the back door, he said. The damage was at least $1,000.

At the time, the youth center, a nonprofit, former 1920s orphanage for boys, was closed for several days, allowing the damage to go unnoticed until April 11.

That was when youth center board members reported the incident to authorities, who might still be looking for the perpetrators had one not made a crucial gaffe.

He bragged, Sokolowski said.

One of the 14-year-olds told a Tarpon Springs classmate, who told the youth center maintenance man, who called Sokolowski personally to relay the information.

All three vandals would later confess, Sokolowski said. Sheriff's officials did not release their names Friday.

The three already had been in trouble with authorities in connection with a past incident in which they allegedly entered a Crystal Beach home, stole a loaded .357-caliber Magnum handgun and fired it soon after. So Thursday, one of the 14-year-olds was already in custody when investigators added the commercial burglary charge. The other 14-year-old was arrested at school that day.

The 15-year-old Palm Harbor student, accompanied by his parents, turned himself in at 1 p.m. Friday at the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center in Largo.

"They basically did this to their own youth center," Sokolowski said. "That's where they hang out; they frequent it a lot. They were very familiar with the inside of that place."

So the question is . . . why?

Sokolowski said the 14-year-old he arrested at school told him he was angry at the youth center staff. Roberta Wyandt, the center's director, then told investigators the teen had been disruptive before and had been asked to leave repeated times.

When reached Friday evening, Wyandt said she'd rather not focus on the negative.

"We love these kids dearly," she said. "That's what the center is about: reaching out and helping children. That's our goal, to plant these seeds and help them get on the right path."

Wyandt has known some of these kids since kindergarten, she said. Though the youth center is still closed because of the damage, she wants everyone to move forward and welcome back the teens when they are ready.

"After they face the consequences," Wyandt said.

[Last modified May 13, 2006, 02:30:25]