A 17-year-old male juvenile from Bristol has been charged with aggravated criminal mischief following damage to the athletic field behind the Bristol Consolidated School last week.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Rand Maker said the juvenile was arrested and released into the custody of his parents June 14. The juvenile is scheduled to appear in court in Wiscasset July 23, Maker said.
Police began investigating the case after school officials reported discovering significant damage to their athletic field June 12, located behind the school facility on Route 130. Maker said investigators were confident a full sized, possibly four-wheel drive vehicle was used to tear up the field.
BCS Athletic Director Chris Perry said Head Custodian Bob Onorato noticed the damage when he arrived for work around 6 a.m. Perry said the field was intact as of 8:30 p.m. June 11, when the last people are believed to have left the building for the day.
Damage to the field was extensive, Perry said. “It’s basically the entire grassed area of our (baseball) outfield, which basically encompasses our soccer field,” Perry said.
He expressed empathy for Bristol taxpayers who face the burden of “thousands and thousands of dollars” in repair costs. “Basically, they destroyed the field sometime last night,” Perry said June 12.
As of June 18, an insurance adjustor was expected to visit the field to begin the claims process.
The school recently completed its baseball season, so the school team is unaffected. However, local Babe Ruth teams had planned to use the field for at least part of their current season and now they will have to scramble to find another place to play, Perry said.
“It is a shame,” Bristol Babe Ruth coach Mike Dawson said of the destruction to the Bristol school baseball field. “The picture does not do it justice to how much damage is done there. It is really pathetic. It has ruined the whole field. It will have to be all re-sodded. It’s a mess.”
Bristol Babe Ruth will now have to travel for all their games, since their home field at the school is unplayable.
The Bristol Boosters were actively undertaking a capital campaign to raise money to improve the school’s soccer field, Perry said, adding that task is now that much harder.
