4 Youths Held in Forklift Spree That Damaged Irvine Buildings

Four Lake Forest youths, suspected of causing more than $104,000 worth of damage by driving forklifts through the walls of a string of buildings in Irvine were arrested by police, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The boys, whose names were not released because they are juveniles, were arrested Tuesday and Wednesday after schoolmates turned them in to school officials. Three of the boys attend El Toro High School and the fourth attends Serrano Intermediate School.

Last Saturday night, a security guard patrolling an industrial park at 9740 Irvine Blvd. chased four youths--who had been operating a fork lift and a pickup truck--from the site of an unfinished warehouse, Police Sgt. Mike Ogden said. The boys apparently caused $14,000 in damage to the warehouse by driving through interior walls and metal scaffolding and over stacks of fiberglass insulation.

The security guard described the boys to police, who sought information about the suspects from Serrano school officials, Ogden said. Students at Serrano later turned the boys in. The four, who were linked to three similar incidents in Irvine that occurred since early September, were arrested on felony vandalism charges. They admitted to vandalizing the buildings and were released into their parents’ custody.

“Their (pattern) was to start forklifts and drive them through walls and metal warehouse scaffolding, throw computers off second story balconies, turn on sprinklers, empty file cabinets on the floor, where they’d be damaged by the water,” Ogden said. “When they were asked why, they just said it was something to do.”

Their parents are responsible to pay for the damage their sons have done, Ogden said.