Thieves target Crystal school bus

CRYSTAL, N.M.

Officials at the Crystal Chapter House are asking for help identifying a vehicle used in an act of property damage and theft of gas for the Head Start program there.

A Facebook post from chapter officials said that the chapter house would be closed and bus routes for the Head Start students canceled due to property damage in an incident that happened between Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning.

“If anyone has seen any vehicle drive around the outside facility between those hours please call the Crystal Chapter at 505-777-2800 or Window Rock Police Department 928-871-6111,” the post said.

Damage on the scene showed tire tracks behind the chapter house and a person-sized hole cut in the fence with footprints headed into the parking lot.

School bus driver Mel Clichee said as he made the rounds to prepare for the business day, he found damage to the bus. The damage caused gas to leak out into the parking lot according to Clichee.

“When I was walking towards it, I saw the big stain on the ground and smelled the gas,” he said.

Then, he checked the gas line.

“I went underneath and saw that the gas line had been cut,” Clichee said.

He said he believed the party cut the gas line to siphon gas.

“It had half a tank yesterday afternoon when I finished the bus route, and it was below a quarter of a tank this morning,” he said.

Chapter officials said many hours, several meetings, and the cost of installing the fence went into recent improvements to the chapter house. Chapter officials said the fence cost $32,090.56 to install.

Now the chapter must pay for repairs to the fence itself and the bus, which had to be towed off the property for repairs.

“Where do we find the money to fix it?” asked Community Service Coordinator Char Kruger.

 

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