Six charged in Mariner High vandalism incident
One week after six individuals were caught on video damaging property at Mariner High School, investigators arrested the last of the half dozen suspects Thursday.
“Over the last week, detectives with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office’s Youth Services Division have been rounding up the suspects one by one, through a combination of Crime Stoppers tips and dedicated investigative work,” a statement from the Sheriff’s Office released Friday states. “Four suspects were taken into custody within the first 24 hours, and the final suspect was arrested yesterday.”
All six were charged with one count of burglary and one count of property damage/criminal mischief, the agency states.
Those arrested are Austin Vickers, 19, Samuel Verdow, 17 , Norlin Casas, 18, Robert Taylor, 18, Mercel Valenzuela-Cesar, 20, and Andie Ring, 14.
All were booked and had been released as of Friday afternoon.
The investigation began after administrators arrived at the school early on the morning of May 27 and noticed that nine door locks had been glued shut, as well as other damage around the school’s campus at 701 Chiquita Boulevard.
A review of surveillance video showed five masked, and one unmasked, individuals walking around the school between the hours of 11:35 p.m. on Thursday, May 26, and 1 a.m. May 27, officials said.
“All areas of the school’s compound were locked at the time the suspects broke in,” officials said in an earlier release.
Damage was estimated at $600.