Police have two suspects in school vandalism

AUBURN – Police investigating a weekend vandalism spree in which two Auburn schools were defaced with blue and white paint say they have two suspects and there may be others.

Detectives from Lewiston, who have been working on the case along with Auburn police, reviewed surveillance videos from Wal-Mart where suspects are believed to have bought cans of spray paint. Investigators also interviewed teen-agers who have information about the case.

“We’ve got some leads, and we’ve identified two suspects,” said Lewiston Police Sgt. Michael McGonagle. “We’re still investigating, and that may lead to other suspects.”

The vandals spray-painted walls and a walkway at the new $12 million St. Dominic Regional High School building, which opened for classes for the first time last week. The same blue and white colors appeared on a statue at Edward Little High School.

The messages on the new brick walls at St. Dom’s included the numbers “4-2,” which was the final score of the Saturday night hockey game between Lewiston High School and St. Dom’s.

After hearing about the vandalism, a woman who works at Wal-Mart called police to report that she had sold blue and white spray paint to a group of teen-agers last weekend.

So far, most of the teen-agers interviewed by police are Lewiston High students, but McGonagle said the investigation would not stop there. “It might lead elsewhere,” he said.