Friday, September 28, 2007
The ‘prisoners’ were taken to Salem Community Center to be bailed out.
By VIRGINIA ROSS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NORTH LIMA — Steve Matos, the principal at South Range Elementary School, got arrested, and he was glad authorities caught him.
Matos surrendered quietly when authorities picked him up Thursday morning as part of the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Lock Up fund-raising effort in Columbiana County.
Matos was one of several dozen volunteer “suspects” rounded up.
By the end of the day, however, school officials were able to bail him out with the more than $2,500 his pupils collected to ensure his timely release.
“We didn’t want it to be traumatic for the students because some of them had a hard time understanding just what was going to happen,” Matos said before his arrest. “They were really worried I was going to have to go to jail and were asking when I’d be back and if school was going to be closed while I was away.
“But I explained to them it was all to raise money to help kids who are ill and that this is a way we could help them,” he added.
So when Jerry Helt of Morris Security arrived at the school to take Matos in, there were no handcuffs. There was no drama.
Matos simply took a few moments to say goodbye to some of the children before leaving the building quietly with Helt. Matos made a point to acknowledge Patti Yocum’s first-grade class, which collected the most money — $206 — to put toward his bail.
“He said he’d be back, so I’m not worried,” said 6-year-old Zack Razo. “It’s OK.”
Collected spare change
Pupils in the school’s 16 homerooms were encouraged to bring in spare change over a 10-day period. Yocum’s homeroom earned itself a pizza party by collecting the most money.
“It was great, and the children became so involved and were so excited and enthused about it,” Yocum said. “They put everything they had into it and put out tremendous effort. It was amazing the response we got from parents and families.”
Representatives from the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s District Office in Akron, which services Columbiana and Mahoning counties, said they conduct “lock ups” once a month in different counties and hit most areas once a year to raise money for research. A similar event was conducted Wednesday in East Liverpool.
On Thursday, the prisoners were taken to a mock lockup at the Salem Community Center until they could post bail. Some volunteers collected money in advance, and others were allowed to call family, friends and co-workers to raise additional funds while in custody.
In Greenford, authorities showed little mercy as they handcuffed South Range Middle School Principal Al Toth in the cafeteria. Toth’s pupils, who raised $106 for his bail, appeared to be a little more receptive to the idea of their principal being arrested. They collected change at lunch time several days to secure his safe return to the school.
“They’re having a good time with it,” Toth said, whose warrant is now posted on the bulletin board. “It was fun. All in a day’s work for a good cause.”