MISSION VIEJO : $1,000 Reward for Information on Fires

School district officials are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of vandals who twice this month have started fires in Mission Viejo High School lockers.

The first incident occurred the morning of Dec. 5, when school officials found the contents of eight metal lockers had been set on fire. The second incident occurred Sunday evening, when school officials found the contents of three more lockers had been destroyed, said Peter A. Hartman, superintendent of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.

“When it happens twice it gets your attention,” Hartman said. “We offered a $300 reward the first time. But when the fires were started again we decided to get serious and up the reward to $1,000. That’s a whole lot cheaper than building a new school.”

Hartman said that investigators were not sure how the fires were started but that it appeared someone had lit some paper and pushed it through an opening in the lockers.