Police cite brothers for spray-painting St. Christine School

YOUNGSTOWN -- Two bored brothers -- 13 and 15 -- used cans of black spray paint to deface St. Christine School, police said.
The boys, who live on Kirk Road, not far from the school on South Schenley Avenue, were caught black-handed Monday afternoon by off-duty patrolman Joe Wess.
An employee of Johnson Controls doing work at the school Monday told police he looked outside after hearing a noise. He smelled fresh paint coming from the rear of the building and saw two boys leaving on bikes.
The worker and the school principal found graffiti had been spray-painted in black on the brick.
Wess saw the boys as he drove by the school and, knowing the building had been broken into before, stopped to see what they were doing. The boys, who do not attend the school, said they had been playing basketball. Wess then went to talk to the principal and learned about the vandalism. The officer had the brothers return to the school.
The boys, who had black paint on the tips of their index fingers, were asked to produce the cans of spray paint. They pulled the cans out of their backpacks.
On-duty police arrived to handle the call. The officers took photos of the graffiti and confiscated the cans of spray paint.
The boys, when asked, said they sprayed the building because they were bored. Each received a citation charging them with criminal damage of school property.
The principal could not be reached Tuesday but Mary Stana, a school secretary, said the spray-painting included a face with a cigar and some letters that she couldn't make out. She had no estimate of the cleanup cost.