2 Men Charged in Crimes at Schools

Two 18-year-olds from Granada Hills have been arrested in connection with a wave of vandalism and burglaries at 20 schools in the northwest San Fernando Valley over the past six weeks, police reported Friday.

Keith Booker and Bruce Doyle pleaded not guilty in San Fernando Municipal Court on Friday afternoon to six counts each of burglary, authorities said. They were being held in lieu of $15,000 bail each at Van Nuys Jail.

Los Angeles Police Det. Anthony Foti said Booker and Doyle confessed to burglarizing six schools in December and January, including Limerick Avenue Elementary School in Canoga Park; Tulsa Street, Porter and Patrick Henry middle schools and Haskell Elementary School, all in Granada Hills, and San Fernando Valley Academy in Northridge.

The amount of property stolen or destroyed in the burglaries has yet to be tallied, but Foti said the damage was more than $20,000.

Booker and Doyle were arrested Wednesday at the Granada Hills apartment they share, Foti said. There, police found items believed to be from five of the burglaries, he said, including a 3-foot gopher snake, a hamster, microwave oven, stereo and gym bags.

When asked why they committed the crimes, Foti said the young men replied, “Just because.” He added: “They probably have a reason but they didn’t tell us.”

Police have identified others they believe are involved in the crimes and are continuing their investigation.

Foti said police intend to connect Booker and Doyle with the other 14 school burglaries in the LAPD’s Devonshire Division area because the crimes were carried out in the same manner. Detectives from other LAPD divisions will be analyzing the crimes to see if they match the methods used in burglaries in their areas, he said.

Assistant school police Chief Richard Page said at least 16 public schools in Chatsworth and Northridge were vandalized in the first six months of 1997, resulting in $44,000 in damage. Districtwide, he said, vandals caused $1.8 million in damage in the first six months of 1996, the most recent period for which district statistics were available.

Vandals broke into the seventh- and eighth-grade classrooms of the San Fernando Valley Academy in Northridge Jan. 28 and smashed eight desktop computers, overturned tables and chairs and sprayed fire extinguishers throughout the room, covering books and desks with a coat of chemical snow. A glass basketball backboard in the school gymnasium was shattered, and a small amount of money was stolen from the school cafeteria.

School administrators said insurance proceeds would help refurbish the classrooms.

Haskell Elementary School was broken into Jan. 27. School officials considered it fortunate that all that was taken was a hamster from a first-grade classroom.

On Wednesday, school police Officer Michael Bowman returned the animal, said Principal Marilyn Erickson, who reported the hamster to be in good health and accompanied by a few toys it didn’t own when it disappeared.

“They were very excited to get the hamster back,” Erickson said of the schoolchildren. “Every time a pet is taken from the classroom, the children are just devastated.”

She would know. Last winter, a rabbit was stolen from a first-grade classroom. After a few weeks, the rabbit was found and Bowman also returned that animal. The school’s administrators jokingly nicknamed Bowman “the Pet Detective” for his work.

After returning the hamster to Haskell Elementary on Wednesday, Bowman’s next stop was to return the snake to another school.