3 juveniles charged in burglary, mischief

SINCLAIR – Three juveniles have been charged with criminal mischief and a burglary in connection with incidents at two St. John Valley schools last month.

The burglary involved the Patrick Theriault Elementary School in Sinclair, where about $1,000 in cash was stolen.

The criminal mischief involved the shooting out of windows at Wisdom High School at St. Agatha.

Two 17-year-old boys were charged over the weekend with the school burglary, Aroostook County Deputy Sheriff Steve Belanger said Monday.

The burglary incident happened on Sept. 22. A window on the side of the school was broken to gain entry into the building. Four bank bags with cash were taken from a cabinet.

Belanger said the money, which has not been recovered, was school lunch money and money that pupils had earned for school trips. The bags in which the money was placed were recovered, but were empty.

The school since has installed burglar alarms, Belanger said.

The two boys, one from Frenchville and one from Sinclair, have been turned over to juvenile authorities.

The criminal mischief incident at Wisdom High School involved the shooting of windows on a school bus and a large window of the school. Entry was not made in the incidents.

Belanger said one of the boys involved in the Sinclair incident also was charged with criminal mischief for the Wisdom High School incident.

Belanger and Maine State Police Trooper Corey Hafford also are investigating the shooting of car windows with BB guns. Some of the same boys may be involved, Belanger said.