Editor’s Note: This article was updated at 10 a.m. Monday, May 7, with information about damages. This article was updated again at 6 p.m. Monday, May 7, concerning the identities of the alleged vandals. Names have been withheld because it is Dragon Press policy not to reveal the identities of minors who may have participated in criminal activity.
A 15-year-old male was arrested in conjunction with an alleged burglary on campus early Saturday morning and booked into Ventura County’s Juvenile Hall, but police were not able to find a second male suspect. Numerous patrol officers and K-9 were involved in setting a perimeter around Foothill after receiving a call at 2:48 a.m. notifying them of suspicious noises coming from the school.
It has been confirmed that the 15-year-old arrested Saturday morning is not a Foothill student.
The alleged vandals targeted two machines each in a different location on the Foothill campus. Both machines lack the protective cages that other vending machines on campus possess.
The first vending machine is located next to the G-Pod just outside the window to English teacher Jennifer Kindred’s classroom. The machine was turned sideways so the attacker could reach the small door on the back and access to the content in the machine. The door appeared clearly bent Monday as though it had been pried in some way, but it was still attached to the machine itself and closed.
The second machine was damaged only from the front although it too had been turned sideways. Two red and yellow wires hung detached from their original positions Monday morning, and the slot itself had clearly been punched in using some sort of tool. A hole had been created and there was a bit of internal damage visible.
The vending machines are not owned by the school and are tracked by the vending machine company who are responsible for the machines and the products they sell. The company will be removing the damaged machines, but principal Joe Bova said he is unsure if they will be replaced and, if they are, whether it will be before the end of the school year.
Should the machines be replaced, Bova believes they will be put inside cages like the other machines on campus are. He does not know why the company did not do that in the first place but said it may be due to the fact that people rarely access the Foothill campus over the weekend. He also believes it is related to the relatively low crime rates on campus.
“We have never had anything like this in ten years,” Bova said.
If anyone has information regarding the incident, please contact the Ventura Police at 339-4400 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.
