Long Beach Police officers arrested five people, including two 10-year-olds, following a break-in at a North Long Beach elementary school Monday afternoon.
Officers were called to Barton Elementary School, 1100 E. Del Amo Blvd., at about 3:30 p.m. Monday after a neighbor noticed people going in and out of the school and called authorities to report the suspicious behavior, said Sgt. Dina Zapalski, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
When officers arrived at the school, which was closed for a holiday, they locked the area down and searched the property building by building, Zapalski said.
One 18-year-old and four juveniles, ages 10, 10, 13 and 14, were found with electronic equipment and P.E. equipment and arrested, the sergeant said.
"Who knows what else they would have taken if the officers hadn't interrupted them," Zapalski said.
The name of the adult was not immediately available Monday. The names of the juveniles will be withheld because they are minors, she said.
All four face burglary charges, Zapalski said.
The investigation is on-going, she added.
This is a symptom of a bigger issue: bad parenting.
Where were the parents? What were the 10 year olds doing without parental supervision?
A skateboard park would have served this neighborhood and at least given them something else to do.
BAD PARENTING CREATES THE CYCLE OF POVERTY!
The have nots want stuff they don't want to work for. Those juveniles should have their names and faces posted. They are NOT children, but hooligans that rob and pillage homes, schools, and businesses for personal financial gain. The people have the right to know who these bozos are that live in their neighborhoods.
I doubt if the parents of the minors would be able to afford any lawsuit even though they are legally responsible for their brats and probably dont care too much or enticed them to rob the school.
What do you mean the parents wouldn't be able to afford a law suit? Do you mean if the children are prosecuted for breaking into the school, or if the children faces are plastered all over the city? With all the publicity this case would get, I'm sure lawyers would be lining up to do this case for free. They are children...10 years old! They don't know what doing something for financial gain is. When we were 10 and we got money what would we do? Buy candy? Buy toys? These children can definitely be helped and I hope they are. I agree that the parents are most likely being extremely irresponsible. The parents most likely never educated their children on the difference between right and wrong.
The 18 Yr. Old 'Adult' is the idiot here, the children are victims as well, as they were left in the care of this adult child.
Not knowing the circumstances they come from, doing the crime is not condoned on any level. The 18 yr. old acted selfishly & got these kids to help him out.
Hoping the younger kids will realize this is a path that only leads to their young/adult destruction. They not only need counseling, they need better guidance than a 18 yr. old w/a criminal record. Hoping the parents were shocked & appalled @ their actions & don't just give them 'time out'.
It's too late for all that... if they'd tap that butt (which BTW is interestingly directly connected to the brain stem nerve), these kids wouldn't be running the streets & breaking into schools.
"Have Not" does not equal "Raid All You Want", the Burger King mentality ("have it your way") is way to prevalent in our youth today & we need to do more as parents/leaders to instill basic fundamental laws/character of respect, strong work ethic, leadership by positive example & pride in doing a good job, equals ownership of blessings/results according to these traits.
Nuf Said,
LL