15 Teens Held in Vandalism at St. Bonaventure

Ventura police arrested 15 teen-agers on vandalism charges early Tuesday after they allegedly caused $5,000 in damages at St. Bonaventure High School during a destructive spree that the students described as a graduation prank that went too far.

Police ferried those arrested from the campus to the Ventura Police Station about 1 a.m., where they were fingerprinted, photographed and issued misdemeanor citations for vandalism.

“It was a busy night,” Sgt. Ted Prell said. “It was a tremendous strain on our resources.”

It all began, some of those arrested said, shortly after midnight when about 40 students and other youths gathered near the Buenaventura Plaza mall and marched the half a mile to campus.

Once on campus, police said, the students ransacked an unlocked classroom, broke dozens of eggs on the grounds and generally made a mess of the campus.

A passing patrol unit saw toilet paper being tossed around the campus and trash cans being tossed onto roofs. Reinforcements were called and police rounded up 15 fleeing youths.

The most serious damage was done to the classroom. Police said the youths destroyed a partition that divided the class, cracked chalkboards and overturned desks.

“It’s not so much the damage, but the reputation of the school that was hurt,” said Brother Paul Horkan, the school’s principal. “That’s the sad part.”

After being released about 4 a.m., several students trudged back to campus to help clean the mess. They all expressed frustration Tuesday afternoon on how things had turned out and blamed non-students for most of the damage.

Most of those arrested Tuesday had graduated Saturday and are college-bound.

“It was supposed to be a fun prank,” said Sean P. Carr, 18, of Santa Paula. “But there were three or four guys there we didn’t know. They must have been friends of some students.”

“We worked hard for four years,” said Ryan E. Tauber, 18, of Ventura. “But all we’ll read about in the papers and see on television is this.”

Their football coach was just as displeased.

“Senior pranks are not OK,” said John Mack, the head coach and biology teacher. Those cited and released along with Carr and Tauber were:

Juaquin R. Gutierrez, 18; Kevin M. Jacobs, 18; Orson A. Maine, 18; Thomas W. Marshall, 18; Phillip B. Pableo, 18; Jason Rangel, 19, and Mathew J. Stiffler, 18, all of Ventura, and Gregorio A. Ruelas, 18, of Santa Paula. Five juveniles were also cited and released to the custody of their parents.

Prell said vandalism occurs occasionally on high school campuses this time of year, but is usually limited to littering school yards with toilet paper and tipping garbage cans.

“There is always the potential for this type of thing,” he said.