3 ARRESTED IN VANDALISM WINDOWS SMASHED AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

STEVENSON RANCH - Three people suspected of smashing more than a dozen windows at an elementary school with baseball bats and pickaxes under cover of night were arrested early Wednesday by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies.

Alfred Bonkessler, 18, Casey Parker, 19, and a 16-year-old boy were arrested about midnight on a street near Pico Canyon Elementary School, moments after they left a trail of broken glass and battered doors at the new campus, sheriff's Detective Pat O'Neill said.

``They were not trying to break in,'' he said. ``They sat around talking and had a couple of beers and came up with a very bad idea.''

Nothing was stolen, but the rampage left the school with 17 shattered windows and three dented doors - at least $5,400 in damage. Repairs could take about two weeks, school officials said.

``Sometimes you have a school broken into or graffiti,'' O'Neill said. ``But this much damage is rare.''

Newhall School District Superintendent Marc Winger was stunned by the destruction at the campus, which opened in August.

``They had a pickax,'' he said. ``They were really trying to break through the metal sheet cover on the door.''

The incident appeared unrelated to vandalism in December when the school and several local parks were defaced with swastikas and racist graffiti, O'Neill said.

All three suspects were booked on suspicion of felony vandalism. Parker and Bonkessler, both Stevenson Ranch residents, remained in custody and were scheduled to be arraigned Friday, O'Neill said. The teenager was booked, then released.

Before the start of class Wednesday, school maintenance crews rushed to board up windows and combed for stray glass shards while teachers and administrators comforted students.

``We discussed how we would handle it with the children - that some people made poor choices and this is a bad thing to happen at their school,'' Principal Nancy Copley said. ``A lot of children cheered when they heard (the suspects were caught).''

The swift arrests came after neighbors alerted a sheriff's patrol of the vandalism, Winger said.

``There is really no protection against this kind of vandalism,'' he said. ``The only protection we had was a community member who heard what was happening and alerted the sheriffs.''

Sheriff's deputies then scoured the neighborhood and found the suspects walking down a street. The three tried to hide but were soon located and detained, authorities said.

After interviewing the three, one implicated the others in the crime, and showed investigators where two baseball bats used to break the windows were hidden, authorities said.

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com