By Adam Armour
Itawamba Times
FULTON – Authorities have arrested a juvenile believed to be responsible for last weekend’s flooding of the Fulton library.
Officials with the Fulton Police Department said a juvenile was arrested on March 8 and charged with malicious mischief in connection with the vandalism. The case has been turned over to the Itawamba County Youth Court.
The suspect, whose name isn’t being released since he or she is under the age of 18, is accused of vandalizing the Itawamba County Pratt Memorial Library on March 6 by blocking the bathroom sink with paper towels and leaving the water running, slowly flooding portions of the building. A second sink was also torn from the wall, although that didn’t seem to contribute to the flooding.
By Monday morning, water had filled the library’s back hallway and portions of the kitchen/conference room, Mississippi room, main library space and the book sale room. There was at least a half-inch of standing water in those locations.
The suspect entered the library through the set of double doors connected to Playgarden Park. These doors remain open during the weekend so that park users have access to the restroom facilities. The doors open to a short hallway, which itself ends in another set of double-doors leading to the library itself. These doors remain locked, allowing park users access to the restroom, but not the library.
Police officials said they were able to identify the suspect after reviewing surveillance footage from inside the library hallway. Although the footage shows multiple people, including the suspect being charged, entering and leaving the bathroom late Sunday afternoon, police officials say that only the suspect being charged with the crime is believed to be responsible, and no more arrests are anticipated.
Sentencing for malicious mischief can vary when it’s prosecuted through youth court, but officials say the suspect, if convicted, will be held financially and criminally responsible for the damages to the library.
Police Chief Reggie Johnson said that if this was intended as a prank, it wasn’t particularly funny.
“We’re going to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” he said. “We want word out that we’re not going to put up with this. If you do this kind of stuff, you’re going to pay the price.”
Damages to the library were minimal considering the extent of the flooding. Although the 13-odd hours it took for city employees to discover the flooding had transformed the back half of the library into something akin to Middle Earth’s Dead Marshes, head librarian Jeffrey Martin said there was little in the way of permanent damage. Water didn’t reach any of the library’s materials, and the carpet was able to be saved. Industrial air movers were placed throughout the library to remove moisture from the air.
Martin said he doesn’t currently have an estimate on the cost of cleanup and repairs.
adam.armour@journalinc.com
Twitter: @admarmr