Video released of vandalism suspects from last month

Philadelphia Police released a video with images of the five boys who broke into and vandalized property inside Pearson-McGonigle Hall four weeks ago.

The video showed five juveniles break into the building and walk along a stairway in Pearson-McGonigle.

Temple Police may have identified two of the suspects, said Charlie Leone, the executive director of Campus Safety Services. He added Temple Police and Philadelphia Police are working together on the investigation.

The videos were released after detectives led a local search for the suspects, and are now released to the public to aid identification, Philadelphia Police Officer Christine O’Brien said.

She added said media advisories have been a “tremendous” help with identifying suspects.

“Everybody watches TV, so they see someone and realize, ‘Hey, that person lives down the street from me,’ or it’s a family member and they call in,” O’Brien said.

The five juveniles broke into Pearson-McGonigle Saturday Jan. 9 where they broke mirrors in the men’s gymnastics practice room and spray-painted on floors and computers inside the building, causing over $5,000 of damage.

“People don’t realize the camera is right there, so it seems like they’re looking right at it in the video,” O’Brien said. “Not everything is a clear video, so we seek other visuals, which could take a while. But I think these are really good images.”

Julie Christie can be reached at julie.christie@temple.edu or on Twitter @ChristieJules.