Vandals break into elementary school in Crosby

CROSBY -- Vandals, who are suspected to include elementary school-age children, broke into Cuyuna Range Elementary School in Crosby Sunday night, breaking several windows at the school and causing considerable damage to the offices of the principal and assistant principal, reported the Crosby Police Department.

Principal Mark Redemske said today his office and assistant to the principal Dave Steinke's office received substantial damage Sunday night from vandals who broke several windows and entered their offices. He wasn't sure yet whether items were stolen in the incident, but several items, including a laptop computer and the school's weather radio, were thrown out the broken windows into the snow. He said it was too early to know how much monetary damage was caused.

Redemske said he got a call Sunday night from one of the school custodians who discovered the vandalism. He was at the school until about 11 p.m. attempting to clean up the glass. The incident happened sometime after 8 p.m. Sunday, said Crosby police.

"Every time I turn around I find a piece of glass," said Redemske. "We've tried to clean up everything the best we could."

According to Crosby police, there are at least two juvenile suspects in the case who are elementary-school age. Redemske wouldn't comment on any types of motives the suspects may have or whether the suspects are students at the school.

Steinke is the assistant to the principal and a special education teacher. He also deals with disciplinary issues at the elementary school. Steinke's and Redemske's rooms are located side-by-side in the office area at the elementary school.