A 20-year-old individual ransacked a brand new high school this weekend in the Charlesbourg area of Quebec City’s northern suburbs. The damage caused by this break-in amounts to more than $100,000, according to police authorities, who quickly apprehended the suspect.
Noah St-Hilaire entered the Phare high school wearing a hood and armed with a blunt object on the night of Saturday to Sunday, according to the Quebec City Police Department (SPVQ). Alerted by a burglar alarm that went off shortly before 2 a.m., the police quickly apprehended the suspect inside the school building.
The establishment was empty at the time the accused struck. St-Hilaire allegedly took advantage of the situation to destroy computers and cause significant water damage that reached at least two floors, according to information obtained by The duty.
Phare High School, a “new generation school” built at a cost of $174.4 million, has never welcomed students. The school year will start as planned despite the misdeeds committed last weekend, the Centre de services scolaire des Premières-Seigneuries (CSSPS) announced on Monday.
“The CSSPS will be ready to welcome staff and students,” the center said in a press release. Without granting an interview to the media, it said it was collaborating with the investigation and continuing to analyze the damage.
The member for Charlesbourg, the Minister of Infrastructure and responsible for the National Capital Jonatan Julien, deplored “acts of vandalism […] unacceptable” in a message posted on his social networks.
“Fortunately, the start of the school year is not compromised,” he added. The Phare secondary school must accommodate more than 1,250 students.
The accused’s motives remain unknown, the SPVQ indicates. Noah St-Hilaire faces three charges: breaking and entering, obstructing police officers and mischief with respect to property worth more than $5,000 — a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in penitentiary.