PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. — In the past week, Prescott Valley has had an apartment building destroyed in a fire and a school vandalized with at least $60,000 worth of damage. Now, the town's police department believes the same person is responsible for both incidents.
Humbolt Unified School District cancelled school on Friday, April 5 for all of their schools after the string of crimes.
"While we are confident that students and staff were safe while in school on Thursday, April 4th, we understand and acknowledge the concerns that are circulating. Therefore, we wish to exercise extreme caution," the district said in a statement.
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Prescott Valley Police Chief Bob Ticer took to Facebook on Thursday following the latest occurrence in what police say are connected incidents.
In the post, Ticer said the town has had "major impacts from criminal activity," and stressed how urgent it is that the person responsible be stopped.
“This person that we are looking for has done major damage, he is brazen and we need to be very concerned about him,” said Ticer.
Here is a timeline of events:
Sometime between the mornings of March 29 and March 31, Bradshaw Mountain High School was vandalized. Police said the campus suffered around $60,000 worth of damage. Images of the person were caught on security cameras.
They were wearing all-black clothing, a face or gas mask, gloves and boots. They were also wearing what appeared to be a headlamp and a Go-Pro-style camera.
On April 1, the Legado Luxury Apartments, located on Main Street, burned to the ground, resulting in $60 million in property damage, according to police.
Then on April 4, the school, located on East Long Look Drive, was targeted again.
Police responded to an alarm at the school. When police responded, they found that the school had been breached by an unknown suspect with additional criminal damage was done to the campus. Investigators found fresh paint at the scene and several damaged interior rooms.
After the damage to the school on April 4, the Humboldt Unified School District made the decision to cancel classes for April 5.
Police are asking members of the community who live in the areas these incidents occurred to look at their home security footage for anything that might help with the investigation.
A task force has been set up to investigate the three incidents.
A tip line as been set up and will be monitored 24 hours a day. The phone number to the tip line is 928-772-5666. The community can also send in tips to Yavapai Silent Witness at 1-800-932-3232.
A portal to submit video to police has also been set up. That portal can be accessed using this link: https://pvaz.evidence.com/.../communi.../public/pv-24-002019
This is a developing story; additional details will be added as they become available.
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