Garland school targeted by young vandals

Garland police want to find a pair of young vandals who targeted a day school over the weekend that caused a few thousand dollars in damage.

A young boy and girl were seen on surveillance video at the Oak Park School in Garland for more than an hour late Sunday morning. Among the things damaged were two buses and a van.

Owner Renee Crissey and her staffers had to scramble after coming to work the following day.

“I had to use my own personal vehicle to take two separate elementary schools to take those children to school,” Crissey said. “Every part of the window insides were all done. They had written all over the front interior here.”

There was also a broken window and damage caused by setting off fire extinguishers.

Surveillance video shows a female and male coming onto the property riding tricycles and walking around the buses. The suspects damaged the ignition on a bus and a van possibly trying to steal them.

Garland police say they’re not sure how old the suspects are but say they appear to be younger.

“It could be very well that they are just bored and they're doing something that is completely out of the ordinary and that may be the case here,” said Lt. Pedro Barineau with the Garland Police Department. “However, we won't know until we find them.”

Crissey hopes the kids are found, not just for punishment, but for correction because this damage goes far beyond a simple prank.

“Because I care about kids, I think I'm just more disappointed than anything,” she said. “I would want to know that as a parent so that, God, this is really leading down a bad road.

Most of the damage has been repaired. The school is adding more cameras and parents have volunteered to routinely check on the property during weekends.