2 16-year-olds arrested on charges of La Salle-Peru High turf damage

Two 16-year-old boys, one of La Salle and one of Peru, were taken into police custody and are being held on charges related to the damage at Howard Fellows Football Stadium at La Salle-Peru High School.

Police said at 5:33 a.m. Saturday officers responded to the stadium for an incident someone had entered the locked stadium and lit a homemade Molotov cocktail causing damage to a small section of recently installed field turf.

At 7:54 pm Saturday, Peru police responded to another suspicious incident in the parking lot adjacent to the stadium where officers located another similar device discarded in the parking lot, however, in this case there was no damage.

Peru police continued their investigation Saturday night and Sunday morning identifying persons of interest, conducting a search at an off-site location and securing physical evidence as well as making numerous interviews.

The two boys are being held in a juvenile detention facility pending their first appearance in juvenile court expected in the coming days, according to Peru police. They face initial charges of criminal damage to state supported property, criminal trespass to property and unlawful use of weapons.

"While the damage to the stadium was limited to a small section of turf, nonetheless this was treated as a very serious situation and a high priority for our agency," said Peru Police Chief Doug Bernabei in a press statement. "The destruction of anyone’s property including public property simply cannot be tolerated. What may appear to possibly be misguided juvenile acts does not negate the seriousness of this type of conduct."

The new artificial turf was installed in August after the board approved a contract with Byrne and Jones Construction for $900,450 this spring. The district has raised more than $500,000 for the new playing surface.

The Peru Police Department thanked Steven Wrobleski and his wife Kristin, Peru Mayor Scott Harl and his wife Barb, Mike Rosploch and the members of the L-P board for pledging their personal money towards creating an anonymous tip fund in this case. Other Illinois Valley residents made similar offers throughout the day, Bernabei said.

The reward was as high as $2,700 as of Saturday night, according to La Salle-Peru High School officials.

"On behalf of the board of education, administration and staff of LPHS, we want to thank the Peru Police Department, our community members who helped with phone calls and monetary donations for a reward which led to the arrest of the alleged vandals," said L-P Superintendent Steven Wrobleski in a statement.

"This case was ultimately resolved in such short order based on the combination of alert residents living near LPHS willingness to report to police the suspicious activity coupled with good old-fashioned police work," Bernabei said. "Equally the outpouring of community-wide support throughout the day speaks volumes of the good people of our local communities and never goes unnoticed by all of us at PPD."

This is the second act of vandalism as the school has completely rebuilt the playing surface at Howard Fellows. In late July, “2020” was etched into the gravel, forcing it to be rerolled before concussion pads and turf could be installed.