Deferred disposition for teen vandal

NEWPORT — A second teen’s case has been handled in the Newport vandalism spree that took place last July.

Lucas L. Swain, 16, received a deferred disposition for a charge of second-degree malicious mischief with damages exceeding $5,000, a felony, when he appeared before District Court Judge Robin Mc-Croskey Friday, Oct. 24. If Swain complies with the conditions of the deferred disposition, he won’t have a felony conviction.

McCroskey laid out the conditions for the deferred disposition for Swain.

He is to have no criminal law violations in the next 12 months, comply with mandatory school attendance, report regularly and on time to a probation officer counselor and comply with a curfew set by the probation counselor. He is also to participate in counseling as directed. He shall be evaluated for a substance use disorder and comply with any counseling ordered, as well as have random urinalysis.

“And you have to cooperate,” McCroskey said. “There are other requirements that will happen after you meet with probation.”

Prosecutor Dolly Hunt said Swain qualifies for deferred disposition.

She said Swain was involved in deliberate destructive acts.

“Over the course of July 6, the defendant along with three other boys vandalized a number of homes, vehicles; damages totaling thousands of dollars at this point,” she said. “There were multiple victims, small business owners and community members who have to shoulder the financial, emotional and personal burden of all these acts of destruction.”

She said the harm was real.

She said the juvenile justice system is designed to focus on rehabilitation.

“But that rehabilitation has to come with accountability and responsibility,” Hunt said. She said she hoped the deferred disposition with the 12 months of probation supervision would accomplish that rehabilitation.

She said the vandalism wasn’t just a single act, it was a series of acts. She said in the videos of the acts the juveniles encouraged each other in the vandalism.

She said Swain served 18 days at Martin Hall and she hoped that gave him time to reflect on his actions and the harm that they caused.

One of the people who suffered damages gave a statement herself and victim/witness coordinator Lisa Stigall read statements from eight people.

“I truly hope that these boys can see the errors of their ways,” a grandmother of one of the victims whose house was vandalized wrote. “I also hope that they experience consequences for their actions. No one has the right to destroy a family’s sense of security and peace of mind. I understand that teenagers can make rash and stupid actions at times, but I feel that this was extreme.”

Defense attorney Brittany Harner said Swain was lucky deferred disposition was available to him.

She said Swain regrets the actions. She said it was a lesson for Swain to be careful who he associates with and it was the first time he had interacted with the other individuals in the case.

“While this does not take away his involvement in this crime, I think it is a lesson for him that he is thankful he is learning now, rather than later,” she said. Harner said he had support from his parents and that they had been reaching out to victims to see if there was anything he could do to help repair the damage.

She said Swain recognized that this was his single chance for a deferred disposition.

When it was his turn to speak, Swain said he was very sorry.

His mother addressed the court.

“I want to say to the victims that I’m sorry,” she said. She said that she would let the court know if Swain did anything against his probation conditions. She said that prior to going to Martin Hall, Swain had the attitude that he was going to do what he wanted when he wanted. That changed after the time at Martin Hall, she said.

“That surprised me,” she said. She is his teacher, and said he was doing well in school now.

McCroskey asked Hunt if Swain could help fix the Pend Oreille Playhouse, which was one of the properties vandalized.

Hunt said that normally didn’t work out. She said if the victim approved, that might be possible. The probation officer said he wanted to supervise anything like that.

McCroskey told Swain that the night of vandalism was “ridiculous.” She said the way he could fix it was to try to make the victims as whole as possible. She said if something like this happened again that he would be looking at some serious jail time.

“Your choices from here on out are going to mold the rest of your life,” she said. “Believe me this is your last chance.”

Restitution would be set within 180 days.