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Shelley Osterloh ReportingTwo teenagers broke into an elementary school in Kearns this morning, but police heard them and caught them in the act.
Each classroom at David Gourley Elementary is equipped with a speaker so folks in the office can call and talk to the teacher. After the vandals tripped the alarm on a door, the Granite School district police department used those same speakers to listen in on what was going on in the school, and they knew what the boys were up to.
The two teenaged boys climbed up a pallet to the roof and forced their way in through a roof access hatch. Once inside, they set about trashing the front hall area. Dispatchers at the Granite School district police department heard it all.
Dan Brooks, Communications Dir. Granite School District Police: "Then they heard the breaking of glass, they heard the spray paint, the can of paint being sprayed, the voices and the movements and the damage that was being done to the school."
The vandals broke the door to the school office and had the school secretary's computer in hand. But they were met by police and apprehended.
Now, 18-year old Timothy Patrick Griffin and a 16-year old accomplice are in the Salt Lake County Jail.
Crews worked through the night to clean up the walls and mess from fire extinguishers they set off, and school opened this morning as usual.
Randy M. Johnson, Chief of Police, Granite School District: "The problems would come from having to close down a school because of extensive vandalism, which would affect literally thousands of people are every school. So this system helps to reduce that, and then we can be there quickly and stop it."
Granite school district has alarms in every school and can listen to what goes on in every elementary. Middle and High schools have cameras too, which have also proved effective in keeping schools and students safe.
Those at Gourley Elementary say the system worked well.
Karen Robinson, Principal David Gourley Elementary: "We teach our kids, our big theme is respect, and for them to have to see that other people don't respect what they care so much about is rally hard. So it's nice to know that there will be some consequences for these people."
Timothy Griffin and the 16-year old face charges of felony burglary and felony criminal mischief.
