Superintendent: Teens break into Levy-Lakeside Elementary School

A group of teenagers found a way inside Levy-Lakeside Elementary School, off Merrick Road in Merrick, on July 28, according to Dr. Dominick Palma, the Merrick School District superintendent. The trespassing teens ran when they were approached by a school custodian, Palma said.

A motion detector alerted the Merrick School District’s alarm company that trespassers were present in Levy-Lakeside’s hallways, Palma said. The alarm company then contacted James O’Beirne, the district’s facilities director. A staff member sent to check for intruders came across the teenagers, who bolted.

The teens “were hanging out in there,” Palma said. He reported that no school property was damaged.

District officials contacted Nassau County Police, who arrived with a crime scene unit. “The police thankfully took it very seriously,” Palma said.

The superintendent added that police viewed video from Levy-Lakeside security cameras and are showing it to local high school administrators to try to identify the suspects.

The intruders “should come forward to the police and turn themselves in,” Palma said.