Boy, 15, arrested after bomb scare at NPHS
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested for calling in the bomb threat at Newbury Park High School last Tuesday.

At 2 p.m. on Friday, the NPHS student was arrested at school for the false report, as well as for illegally possessing a knife on school grounds. He was cited and released to the custody of his parents.

Last Tuesday morning, sheriff's deputies were called to NPHS, where Principal Athol Wong had already evacuated students.

Deputies called in the U.S. Navy and Cal State University Channel Islands police for explosive-sniffing dogs to aid in the campus search. No explosives were found on school grounds.

Chad Bourget, the T.O. Police Department school resource officer on campus, a new addition this year, began the investigation with other department detectives.

"He really organized the investigation and by and large actually put the pieces together," said Sgt. Don Aguilar. "He's committed to that campus and had the time to do the individual interviews and deal with the evidence. In this case, it really paid off."

Aguilar said the juvenile could be punished in a variety of ways, including community service and restitution.

"Our first concern is the safety issue, so we had a huge response," Aguilar said, referring to the bomb squad, dogs and the Navy involvement. "We need to be able to pull those resources for the big calls, which is hard when they're out on a false bomb threat."