Vandals Damage HS Snack Bar, Athletics Storage

Vandals trashed three areas of the Temecula Valley High School campus over the weekend, school district officials said Monday.

Although the losses are still being assessed, a district spokeswoman said the vandals appear to have caused more property damage than theft.

The targets were the Hungry Bear Cafeteria, a satellite snack bar and what was described as an athletic area that includes storage and is used by the boys baseball program at the school's stadium.

A video posted to YouTube by the baseball program showed items strewn about, a window and some shelving broken, and a decorated skateboard split in half. The skateboard included the words "RIP Gage" and "Shred up heaven for me" — an apparent reference to Gage Seal, who played baseball for Temecula Valley and loved to skateboard, and was shot and killed three years ago at age 15.

"Campus security and administration are currently investigating with the assistance of the school resource officer," Laura Boss, a Temecula Valley Unified School District spokeswoman, wrote in an email. School resource officers are Riverside County sheriff's deputies assigned to school sites.

The district has some surveillance footage and officials suspect the vandals were at the school early Sunday.

The campus is in the 31500 block of Rancho Vista Road, off Margarita Road and east of the Ronald Reagan Sports Park.

The school site administration is working with the district's risk management and maintenance and operations departments to assess the damage.

"We don't believe there was a significant amount of theft at this point," Boss said by phone. "Most of what was done will be fixed by the district."

She said of the vandals, "They actually left brand new bats."

Coaches will be consulted as the district assesses the losses, as well as sports booster programs that may have purchased items for athletic program use.

The Temecula Valley Bears Baseball group posted on Facebook about the damage, and solicited donations to a nonprofit booster group. Donations can be made online at squareup.com/store/TBDC.

A statement on the group's website notes that equipment from individual players was stolen and pictures and trophies were broken.

An advisory message was sent to parents Monday to alert them to what had happened. Anyone who may have information useful to the investigation should contact the high school administration office at 951-695-7300.

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