Two young boys who caused $50,000 worth of damage to a Florida elementary school library have been charged after being turned in by their own mothers.
The two boys, aged 12 and 13 respectively, were captured on camera entering the school during the day on Sunday and later returning to cause more damage, Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said. They later confessed to the destruction.
Deputies responded to a fire alarm at Friendship Elementary School in Deltona at around 1 a.m.
Once on scene, they found a glass door had been shattered and the media center had been vandalized. Body camera footage showed extensive damage to the library and media center.
Books and furniture were strewn all over the room as officers and a K9 unit examined the property.
Two persons of interest were captured on camera but were initially not identified – with pictures from the surveillance footage shared on social media.
However, in a case update Monday, the sheriff’s department wrote: “Their moms turned them in.”
The department said that it has received multiple emails from members of the community identifying the two boys, including from their mothers.
“Once we post on social media, it blows up — I don’t know how many tips come in telling us who these two little cherubs are and the mothers of both the little cherubs call us,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood told Fox19.
“I’ve got to give the moms credit. They called us, they didn’t tell the kids we were coming and when they were questioned, they confessed to what they did. One of them then went up to the bedroom and got out some items that were stolen from the school – a radio and some digital cameras – and turned them over to us.”
Officials added that the boys broke into the school during the day, and returned overnight to “look at the damage and cause more.”
Both boys were charged with 2 counts of burglary, 2 counts of trespassing on school grounds, criminal mischief, and theft.
The Independent has reached out to the Volusia Sheriff’s Department for further information.
