SLV pool, charter school facilities vandalized, burglarized

Investigators from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office are seeking answers after the pool facilities at San Lorenzo Valley High School and two classrooms at the nearby Coast Redwood Charter High School were burglarized and vandalized over the holiday weekend.
According to Deputy Kelly Kent, unidentified suspects forced entry into a chemical storage shed on the pool deck, ransacked multiple sheds, threw items into the water, broke glass, and damaged sensitive equipment.
The break-in is believed to have taken place between 6 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18 and 6 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 19.
“Basically, everything that was on the pool deck was put into the pool, and there were some small things that were carried away,” said San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District Superintendent Laurie Bruton.
She said that, as of Wednesday, it was not yet clear the cost in dollars of the damage, adding that the school’s aquatics staff are still working to inventory what equipment was stolen, what was damaged, and what remained — everything from swim caps and parkas, to sensitive electronic gear.
“I’ve been describing it as a senseless act of destruction,” said SLVHS Principal Karen van Putten. “As we’re doing the cleanup were finding things strewn about here and there — one printer was definitely thrown into the pool, we had a file cabinet full of documents thrown in … Colorado timing touch pads were walked on and thrown around.”
She said that the vandals gained access to three sheds by damaging doors and breaking windows.
The same night, two classrooms at Coast Redwood Charter High School were broken into as well, with 25 new Google Chromebooks reported among the items that had been stolen.
Given the timing and similarity of the crimes, Bruton said, “We believe the two incidents are connected.”
Bruton said that the school’s security cameras were functioning during both incidents, and that Sheriff’s investigators are currently reviewing the footage to determine the identities of those responsible.
“We do have some additional security and supervision on campus,” Bruton said, adding that there would be increased night patrols of the campus.
Despite the damage to the pool, van Putten said, staff and volunteers were able to clean up the debris and scattered equipment in time for the facility — a popular destination for community swimmers — to host lap swim hours that evening.
“We did have an amazing crew of volunteers and staff that came in,” she said.
The pool, which opened in 1999 thanks to a community-supported bond measure, has been the target of vandals in the past — most notably when a car was pushed into the water, causing thousands of dollars in damage and drawing public outrage toward the perpetrators, who were quickly caught.
“Our community really values our facilities,” Bruton said, “we have access to them and use them all the time — we’re always disappointed when something like that happens.”
Anyone with information about either crime is encouraged to call the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office at 471-1121.