School bus tire vandals admit guilt, recant story

Published 12:43 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – Two Mount Si High School seniors who were caught on school property after hours last month and later confessed to a March incident in which the tires on the district’s buses were deflated have recanted their story.

The men, both 18, were caught, along with a third senior on the grounds of Mount Si High School in the early morning hours of April 11, according to police reports.

The reports state that a Snoqualmie police officer was patrolling the area near the high school after a tip revealed that unknown persons were planning pranks on school property on or about the 12th of every month. The tip was revealed during an investigation into an incident on March 14 when an unknown group of students let the air out of the tires in the Snoqualmie Valley School District’s bus fleet. The incident left students stranded at bus stops, caused the cancellation of field trips and delayed the start of school by two hours district wide.

When a Snoqualmie police officer was patrolling the area near the school shortly before 2 a.m. on the morning of April 11, he noticed a Chevy Blazer parked on Meadowbrook Way. Thinking it was unusual for a car to be near the school that early in the morning, the officer radioed for backup and set out to investigate on foot. As the officer was patrolling the dock area near the rear of the school, a man in camouflage dress and a paintball safety mask and goggles came out from behind a plant. The officer, believing he had run across a burglary, ordered the man to the ground at gun point.

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