UPDATED WITH COURT FILE AND SCHOOL ENROLLMENT INFORMATION
Burlington police have arrested five 18-year-olds and two juveniles (under the age of 18) in connection with Memorial Day weekend vandalism at Williams High School.
When Burlington police officers arrived shortly before midnight last Thursday night, a group of juveniles ran from the school. Officers were able to quickly determine that the school had been vandalized and found that eight toilets and six urinals had been filled with cement.
After reviewing surveillance video and interviewing several people, the following five individuals have been charged with Breaking and Entering (Misdemeanor) and Injury to Real Property (Misdemeanor):
- Cameron Lee Cheek, white, male, 18. The file for this case hasn’t yet been logged into the Alamance County court system, but Cheek’s court file for an earlier case involving a traffic infraction lists his address as 2515 Lacy Holt Road, Graham.
Cheek had not been given a court date for the case involving the vandalism at Williams High School by press time. (Cheek was convicted of speeding – driving 103 miles per hour in a 65-mph zone – and reckless driving in March 2022, according to Alamance County court files.)
- Jacob Church, 18-year-old male, race and address currently not on file. No case file has been logged into the Alamance County court system in connection with the case; nor are any prior charges on file in the local court system. Church had not been given a court date by press time.
- Ethan Alexander Clements, white, male, 18. The file for this case hasn’t yet been entered into the county’s criminal database, but Clements’ file for an earlier court case involving a traffic infraction lists his address as 2223 Fire Tower Road, Snow Camp. He had not been given a court date by press time. (Clements had been charged with speeding – driving 85 mph in a 65 mph zone – in August 2022; he pled guilty to a lesser offense of improper equipment in February of this year, according to Alamance County court files.)
- Benjamin Joseph Ouzts, white, male, 18, of 2312 Somers Avenue, Burlington. Ouzts is currently scheduled to appear in Alamance County district court on June 19.
- Alex Masao Solari, white, male, 18, of 1320 Branson Drive, Graham. Solari is currently scheduled to appear in Alamance County district court on July 28.
There were two juvenile offenders, under the age of 18, who were referred to Youth Diversion, according to the Burlington police department.
Any individuals who are students within Alamance-Burlington School System may also face additional consequences through the enforcement of the district’s Student Code of Conduct, according to a release from the police department.
The school system has already announced that if the individuals are graduating seniors at an ABSS high school, they will not be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies.
According to the school system which provided publically available information about the students, Church, Ouzts, and Solari are currently seniors at Williams; Clements is a senior at Southern; Cheek transferred out of Southern and no additional information on his enrollment status is available.
See earlier story: https://alamancenews.com/vandals-probably-high-school-seniors-leave-thousands-in-property-damage-at-williams-other-abss-high-schools/
