Tires deflated on 24 buses in apparent senior ‘prank’

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Four high school seniors were arrested on Friday for allegedly deflating the tires on a local school district’s entire fleet of buses.

Police were dispatched to the Northwestern Local Schools transportation department around 5:45 a.m. on Friday to investigate the vandalism.

Deputies and detectives from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office found that the valve stems from 24 school buses had been removed, which caused the tires to deflate.

The investigators found messages written on the asphalt in the bus lot: “You have been pranked by seniors 2015” and “To have school or to not have school?” The number 15 was also written in multiple places on the asphalt and on a bus.

The damage forced the district to close schools for its 2,000 students on Friday. Also, private school students for whom the district usually provides bus service had to find other transportation to school.

Neal Shambaugh, transportation director for Northwestern Local Schools, said that the cost to repair the damage to the buses would be in the thousands.

The police investigation of the vandalism led to the arrest of four high school seniors, ages 18 and 19. They were each charged with disrupting public services and vandalism, both felonies.

The students were scheduled to appear in court on Monday morning.