OVID TOWNSHIP, MI (WTVB) – Three juvenile boys were taken into custody by the Branch County Sheriff’s Department on Thursday afternoon after they broke into the old Lakeland Elementary School at 519 Otis and ransacked the building.
Undersheriff Keith Eichler stated in a news release that deputies were summoned to the building at 4:39 p.m. by hidden cameras and motion detection devices.
Deputies found that the building had been ransacked with destruction on the inside of the building.
Deputies had just been at the school the day before to clean up from a previous Breaking and Entering, to prepare for training next week.
The parents of the apprehended juveniles were called to the location to take custody of their children.
The incident remains under investigation by Branch County Sheriff’s Deputies.
There has been continued problems with vandalism at the building which is currently owned by Branch County.
Administrator Bud Norman told the Board of Commissioners during their Thursday work session they want to sell the building as soon as possible.
He added there are six interested parties in the property with three of them showing a substantial interest.
The old Lakeland School south of Coldwater closed in April of 2021 after almost 60 years of service after the new fourth and fifth grade Lakeland School was built on Western Avenue in Coldwater.
Coldwater Community Schools sold the building and land to Branch County in May of 2021. It became one of five locations for new 911 towers.
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