Paulding DA To Meet with Arrested Teens
Dick Donovan will speak with the 24 teens arrested in connection with the East Paulding High School vandalism case. Dallas-Hiram Patch will bring you coverage of that meeting later today.
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The 24 teens arrested last month in connection with the March 11 vandalism of East Paulding High School and surrounding areas could learn their legal fates this afternoon.
The teens will meet with Paulding County District Attorney Dick Donovan at 2 p.m. at the Paulding County Courthouse. Officials at Donovan’s office told Dallas-Hiram Patch that the media is welcome to attend. We will bring you details of the meeting later today.
It remains to be seen if the teens will be indicted under the crime they were charged with after being arrested by the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office—criminal interference with government property, a felony under Georgia Code 16-7-24. According to the state law, “A person commits the offense of interference with government property when he destroys, damages, or defaces government property.” Conviction of the crime carries a sentence of imprisonment for one to five years.
The total aftermath of the March 11 vandalism saw school buildings spray-painted to include windows; some perpetrators also made it onto the school’s roof, which was also painted. Some of the paintings across the campus, in addition to “Senior” and “2012,” also included the text “YOLO” and “Musgrove is a [expletive]”—the latter message seemingly targeting Assistant Principal Greg Musgrove. In all, school district officials said clean-up of the damage to East Paulding High was estimated at $7,500.
No official word on the school-level punishments of those alleged to be involved in the vandalism was ever released by school district officials, who said that privacy laws prevent the district from revealing how many students were punished, what punishments they received or whether students’ punishments differed. However, one student arrested in connection with the incident, Jake Zimmerman, said those involved received 10 days of out-of-school suspension followed by long-term suspension for the rest of the year, the latter of which is carried out by the Ombudsman program. The punishments are in line with those prescribed by Paulding County Schools’ student discipline policy.
Zimmerman earlier this week received an additional punishment at the school level, as Paulding School Board members voted to bar him from all extracurricular activities, including graduation. Zimmerman after the board’s decision Tuesday said the additional punishment, which he said his peers are not receiving, was retaliation for appealing the district’s original decision.
Under Board Policy JD, the students deemed to have been involved in the vandalism could have faced expulsion, as the incident likely would be classified as a “Level One” offense—defined as “[incidents] that significantly threaten the safety of students and staff, significantly disrupt the orderly school environment, and/or may result in injury or significant loss of property.”
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In This article
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Paulding County Superior Court and Clerk of Superior Court
280 Constitution Blvd, Dallas, GA -
Paulding County Sheriff's Office
247 Industrial Way N, Dallas, GA -
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Ombudsman Educational Services
4057 Marietta Hwy, Dallas, GA -
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Mojo413
1:49 pm on Friday, April 13, 2012
I happen to know a couple of these young adults who have taken full responsibility for their actions. Both realize they were extremely stupid that night. Both realize the only way to put this behind them is too buckle down, do right and throw themselves on the mercy of authority. I'm praying for them to have favor with the DA today.
Melinda Paris
1:49 pm on Friday, April 13, 2012
I want to add here; i KNOW a very rich man, but this man has COMMON sense, and a few years ago as the story goes, TWO young teenage girls vandalize his beach house, trashed it, the police caught them, and called the very rich man, and told him. He ask, Have they ever been in trouble before? answer: no, sir..but we are taking them to juvenile..LONG STORY SHORT..The very rich man requested to the judge, that these girls read a book every week, and write a book report and send to him, and if they missed a week, then the judge would punish them according to the law. So, they cleaned up the big mess, and wrote a book report for ONE YEAR. They are grown now and HAVE NEVER been in any more trouble...If this very rich man had told the judge to sentence them, probation...would they have the same result? Sometimes, We need to step back and use common sense, I'm sure these young people, have learned a vauable lesson, and if they have clean records, then DON'T ruin the rest of the lives with a felony, TEACH THEM a lesson, ONE that they will NEVER forget. BTW..The very rich man would be Chic filet founder, Truitt Cathy...a very SUCCESSFUL and SMART man, there is a LESSON here we call ALL learn!!!! I DO NOT KNOW ONE kid that made a mistake in this prank, and I get it, trying to show the rest of the kids to never do this, there is OTHER WAYS to get the point across!!! IF any of the staff "overheard" that this was happening, and turned a deaf ear, should they be held accountable?????