Authorities say teens spray painted male genitalia, drug references on turf field,
Three teenagers have been arrested by the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office in connection with an ongoing criminal mischief investigation that centered around vandalism throughout the parish.
Destrehan residents Evan C. Coffman, 19, and John E. Lotshaw III, 19, along with Luling resident Paul A. Finn, 18, were arrested after authorities said they spray painted graffiti on buildings, signs, vehicles and school property.
The investigation, which zeroed in on several incidents throughout the parish, included the spray painting of obscene messages and other graffiti on Destrehan High School’s brand new turf field just five days after the school’s football team won their second straight Class 5A state championship.
“Based on the initial investigation, we were able to arrest three suspects,” said sheriff’s office spokesman Capt. Pat Yoes. “We were able to make those arrests because of interviews with those involved in the incidents and others with knowledge of the events.”
According to sheriff’s reports, Coffman was charged with eight counts of criminal mischief and possession of stolen property. Finn was charged with two counts of criminal mischief, while Lotshaw was also charged with criminal mischief.
On Dec. 17, DHS principal Stephen Weber notified the school’s on-duty officer, Lt. Warren S. LeBeauf Jr., that graffiti had been spray painted on the school’s football field, while damage was done to the athletic field house.
The graffiti consisted of words, numbers and obscene drawings that stretched the length of the field. Two days later, assistant principal Jack Bryant also notified LeBeauf of damage and spray painting to the girls’ locker room.
Additional damage was reported at DHS on Jan. 8 when Bryant reported that signs posted on a fence near the entrance of the campus and on the school’s cemented name plate had been tagged with graffiti.
Upon investigation, LeBeauf reported that images of male genitalia and the number 420, similar to that of the football field graffiti, were spray painted in yellow on the signs.
In a separate incident on Jan. 7, Ethel Schoeffner Elementary school principal Mary Schmidt contacted the sheriff’s office after she noticed that six different sections of a brick wall that faces the playground, along with a glass door near the school’s entrance, had been vandalized.
Reports state that drug-related symbols and words that referred to smoking marijuana and indulging in other drugs, along with sex-related terminology, were spray painted in various colors along the wall.
Two sheriff’s office vehicles were also the target of vandalism on Brandon Hall in Destrehan on Jan. 7.
An unmarked 2002 white Chevrolet Impala and a 2001 fully-marked white Crown Victoria were tagged with spray-painted images of male genitalia, profanity and references to illegal drugs.
According to sheriff’s office documents, the vehicles were vandalized while officers attended to dispatched calls in the area.
On that same day, a Destrehan delivery truck belonging to Kraft Foods Global Incorporated was also tagged with spray-painted images of female breasts, male genitalia and drug-related wording.
Yoes stated that he was unaware of any additional arrests, but noted that the case is ongoing.
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