Marianna youth charged in Ala. high school burglary

By: By MATT ELOFSON Media General News Service | Jackson County Floridan
Published: March 07, 2010

Four youths face felony charges after police charged them with burglarizing Cottonwood High School in Alabama, and causing $11,000 worth of damages with a fire extinguisher.
Cottonwood Police Chief Jim Smith said police have charged Levi Vincent Swearingen, 20, of Cottonwood Road, Cottonwood, and Wyatt Peterman, 18, of Marianna. He said juvenile petitions were filed against two teenage students at the school for their involvement.
Police charged Swearingen and Peterman with felony third-degree burglary and felony first-degree criminal mischief.
Smith said the four young men apparently started out playing basketball Sunday in the school’s gym, then switched to discharging a fire extinguisher inside the building. He said fire extinguishers discharge a corrosive element which had to be professionally cleaned.
Records show Swearingen was charged with burglarizing the school with intent to commit criminal mischief. Records show he was charged with damaging a mini-gym, some offices and a bathroom at the school for a total of $11,000.
Swearingen was taken to the Houston County Jail and held on a $5,500 bond