Police capture fleeing burglary suspect in school bathroom

A fleeing burglary suspect holed up in, and badly damaged, a bathroom at Christine Sipherd Elementary School on East Orangeburg Avenue on Thursday morning before police subdued the man and took him into custody about 8:30 a.m..

The school has a summer school session for severely handicapped children, the head custodian said, but those students remained off campus until the situation was resolved.

Principal Scott Nicotero added that the students were kept safely on their school buses at adjacent Sipherd Park. With the suspect in custody, school would be held as usual, he said.

The incident began shortly after 7 a.m. when residents near the school reported a man trying to break into a home. Officers responding saw the fleeing man heading toward the Sipherd campus.

Head custodian Babs Herbert said she saw the man jump the fence onto school grounds, with police vehicles following. She said she pointed out to officers that the man had entered a bathroom.

Officers talked with the man, who refused to come out of the bathroom. It appeared he might be armed, said Sgt. Steve Stanfield, and “we didn’t want to force a violence confrontation.”

The man was exhibiting very abnormal behavior, possibly drug-related or a mental condition, Stanfield said. He broke into the bathroom and damaged stalls, glass and lighting.

The suspect, whose name police did not know, Stanfield said, finally came to the doorway as though he were going to come out, but then began to head back in. At that point, officers took him into custody, employing “minor use of force” to subdue him, police spokeswoman Heather Graves said.

The suspect was transported by ambulance to a local hospital to be evaluated, Stanfield said.

The sergeant said the man faces charges of attempted burglary, vandalism and resisting arrest.

Herbert said pliers and other apparent burglary tools were found in the bathroom.

This story was originally published June 25, 2015 at 8:02 AM with the headline "Police capture fleeing burglary suspect in school bathroom."