Grounded! Young daredevils face parents, not charges
Staff writer
Three teenagers who climbed the roof of Hillsboro High School this weekend were spared charges by a city officer who instead took them home to face their parents.
Hillboro officer Randy Brazil said he intercepted the trio as they climbed gas pipes Saturday on the east side of the high school to get atop the school’s weight room.
“They were shocked they got caught,” he said of the boys. He would not name them, but all were younger than 17.
After a stern warning about the dangers of trespassing, Brazil escorted the sheepish teens home and told their parents about the incident.
Hillsboro chief Dan Kinning said the lads “were just being kids” but shouldn’t have been up there because someone could have been hurt.
The boys’ parents were embarrassed as they apologized.
“The last thing you want to see is the police pull up to talk to you about your kids,” Kinning said.
Roof climbing antics of local youths have been worse, he said.
Kinning said he shooed children off the roofs of downtown Hillsboro businesses all the time when he was new to the department.
“You’d drive around town, and you would see ladders up against the wall where kids had left them,” he said. “I talked to many elderly people, and they said they did this when they were young, too.”
Brazil said a tough lecture often worked as well as a ticket.
“My goal was to turn the incident into a learning experience for the boys,” Brazil said. “I believe I got my point across to them and they understood.”
Kinning said the boys still had to explain their stunt when they got home.
“We’ll let the parents take care of it this time,” he said.