Thieves do $50K damage, closing preschool
EUGENE, Ore -- Metal thefts at two Eugene schools over the holiday weekend caused thousands of dollars of damage for one of those schools - and forced a preschool to cancel classes until at least next Monday.
At Willamette High School, the thieves tried to steal metal hose bib out of a wall on Monday.
"They tried to take this hose bib out of the wall, twisted it off hoping to get this brass. And instead of unscrewing it on the end, the copper snapped and water just came shooting out of the wall," said Pat McGillivray from Bethel School District.
Maintenance crews discovered the flowing water in the parking lot at around 7 a.m. The damge took six hours to repair the pipe, McGillivray said.
"It’s the labor, the parts, it’s the concern of whats gonna happen the next time you show up in the morning to see what's done, to see what's damaged," he said.
At Head Start of Lane County's Fairfield center, the damage was much worse. On Friday, metal thieves ripped a metal spigot out of a wall, and when it happened, the water started flooding the building internally.
The flooding wasn't discovered until Sunday. Marci Gaston, program director, said they are currently working with insurance to see how much the damages will cost. Gaston says - as of right now - damages will be at least $50,000.
"The things we could save, we saved. We put things in the middle of the room," said Gaston. "Our copies and computers and things that they use for the work in the office, we may not be able to save them."
School was cancelled for the rest of the week. They hope to re-open the preschool on Monday, but the Early Head Start side may take another week to repair.
