Arrest made in school burglary

Braswell
Braswell

FARMINGTON -- A Springdale man is facing commercial burglary, criminal trespass and first-degree criminal mischief charges after security footage showed he was rummaging around the inside of Farmington Junior High on Friday morning, according to a Farmington police spokesman.

Kenneth Braswell, 43, was arrested May 26 and transferred to Washington County Detention Center with a $2,500 bond. He is scheduled to appear in circuit court May 26.

The school's security video footage showed Brawell going through student lockers and opening doors, according to police. He did not take anything and nothing was damaged at the school.

Joe McClung, school principal, said no students and teachers were on campus Friday because it was a virtual day. He said it was determined that Braswell entered the school through the exterior day on the east side of the A building.

McClung said Braswell apparently walked around campus until he found an unlocked door. McClung said the door could have been unlocked for a number of reasons. Custodians and maintenance staff were in the building and also teachers were in and out that day. In addition, he said it was discovered that one of the door fobs was not working.

"It could have been one of those situations," McClung said.

He said custodians confronted the suspect on two occasions, and he left after the second time. The suspect was on campus about 20 minutes, McClung said.

He said the suspect, wearing slacks and a collar shirt, appeared to be doing things to make people think he was supposed to be on campus. He threw all the balls onto the gym floor and at one time was running the cleaning machine on the gym floor.

Farmington police posted the suspect's photo on its Facebook page, asking for assistance in identifying the person. Police received several responses identifying the suspect.

"We couldn't find a rhyme or reason for why he was there," McClung said, noting the suspect is not connected to Farmington schools in any way. He does not have children in the district. "Thankfully, we were virtual that day and there were no kids or staff on campus."