Boy, 14, takes deal in school incident

Angela Soo

Friday, May 25, 2001 | 10:16 a.m.

A 14-year-old boy accused of planning an armed attack at Woodbury Middle School accepted a plea agreement Wednesday.

The boy admitted to loitering on school grounds, grand larceny and violating probation. His sentencing is scheduled for June 13 in Family Court.

The court proceeding was closed after the boy's defense attorney, Dirk Ravenholt, asked Sylvia Beller, the hearing master, to order members of the media out of the courtroom at the family's request. Beller granted the motion.

Bob Teuton, chief deputy district attorney in the juvenile division, was disappointed that the court granted Ravenholt's motion.

"We prefer to have open hearings because, one, it makes the attorneys more accountable, and two, so people know what goes on down here," Teuton said.

Ravenholt contested any notion that the boy planned to retaliate against the school for expelling him two months before his arrest on April 19.

The boy was loitering on campus because he was going to meet his friends after school, Ravenholt said. The boy did not have a gun when he was detained. Ravenholt later questioned why police waited to arrest the boy when they apparently knew where he was staying.

On the day of his arrest the boy was recognized by a school police officer and a foot chase ensued. He escaped from the officer after jumping a wall and fleeing to an apartment, where he was staying. He was arrested about 15 minutes later, Ravenholt said.

The theft of weapons from his father a month before his arrest was an act of retaliation against his father, and not the school, Ravenholt said. The boy wanted to upset his father and never intended to use the rifles.

Teuton didn't know what the boy planned to do with the weapons but said that individuals typically sell stolen guns.