Two of three people suspected of burglarizing and vandalizing four Glendale Unified District schools were arrested by Glendale police, who used a tip and social media to identify all three suspects.
Only one of the three male suspects was an adult, Glendale Police spokesman Sgt. Robert William said. The other two were juveniles.
The two suspects who were arrested Thursday included 19-year-old Christian Padilla, William said. According to L.A. County jail records, Padilla was taken into custody about 7:30 a.m. Thursday.
He is being held on $20,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
The investigation into the burglaries and vandalizings began Saturday, March 12 about 1:45 a.m. when three suspects forced their way into Toll Middle School at 700 Glenwood Road.
The suspects, who carried pry bars and hammers captured in video, disabled several security cameras with their hammers.
The suspects then entered about 20 classrooms and offices, where they searched for valuables, according to William. Most of the locked rooms were opened by smashing in the door windows. Cash was stolen from one of the offices. It’s not known what, if anything, they took from the classrooms.
The same three people then burglarized Mark Keppel Elementary School, which was next door to Toll, somewhere between 4:10 a.m. and 4:23 a.m., according to William.
Four classrooms were broken in there and cash was stolen.
These same suspects are also believed to have burglarized and vandalized two other Glendale Unified schools in La Crescenta during the morning hours this past Tuesday.
Surveillance video captured the suspects in the act at all four schools, William said. Police then received a tip from the public who recognized one of the three burglars. Officers then used social media accounts to identify the other two suspects.
The search for the third suspect was ongoing, William said.
—Staff and wire reports