Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
The Hill County Attorney’s Office Wednesday filed charges in state District Court in Havre against three Havre youths. The boys, who were 17 at the time of the incident, were each charged with burglary and criminal mischief, both felonies, and with theft and criminal trespass to property, both misdemeanors, in relation to an incident at the Havre Public Schools bus garage and Havre Middle School on Aug. 28. A hearing will be held Oct. 30 to determine whether the cases will continue to be tried in District Court or whether they must be transferred to youth court. If tried and convicted in District Court, the youths could face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine for the burglary charges, and up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine on the criminal mischief charge. The theft and trespassing charges each carry sentences not to exceed six months in jail and fines not to exceed $1,000 for the theft charge and not to exceed $500 for the trespassing charge. The youths were charged with illegally entering the Havre Public Schools bus garage on Aug. 28, damaging property with a value greater than $1,000 and illegally taking items from the garage with a total value less than $1,000. According to court documents, an off-duty police officer saw three juveniles near the bus garage at 1:26 a.m. Aug. 28 and Reported it to the Havre Police De p a r tme n t . An o f f i c e r responding to the scene saw three males near a door at the Havre Middle School, who fled when they saw the officer. After pursuing the three, who split up, the officers responding eventually detained two of the males, the document said. One of those detained identified the other two involved during an interview. According to the document, officers investigating found several items including some keys and landscaping helmets and a spray paint wand with orange spray paint near the middle school door where the three were observed. Someone had sprayed paint in and around the bus garage maintenance room, including on a brand-new fourwheeler, and had painted what appeared to be a mild profanity on a basketball court, the document said. One of the boys, when interviewed by the police, said they had been drinking some beer a friend had bought them, and then had gone walking, the document said. They hid behind the bus garage when they saw a vehicle, and noticed a door was not completely closed and they entered the garage, the document said he told the officer. The boys, in slightly differing stories, told officers that they had taken items from the garage, including the keys which one boy said they were going to try to use at Havre High School, according to the document. One boy said he knew nothing of the spray paint, but the others said they had sprayed some paint, including on the basketball court and spraying some dots on some concrete.
