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Friday April 27, 2007

Fire, anti-Semitic graffiti jolt Pacifica high school

by joe eskenazi
staff writer

Pacifica police are hunting for the vandal or vandals who ignited a blaze in a storage closet and littered the walls of Oceana High School with anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic slogans in the wee hours of the morning Tuesday, April 24.

Spray-painted references to a bomb also resulted in bomb-sniffing dogs giving the campus the once-over and turning up nothing. Smoke damage from the fire has rendered a weight room unusable.

The vandalism comes on the heels of a similar instance earlier this month at South San Francisco High School. Vandals spray-painted anti-Semitic and racist epithets on the walls and committed $8,000 worth of damage; a juvenile suspect has been charged with felony vandalism.

Tami Holzman, regional assistant director of the Anti-Defamation League, said this is the time of year when these sorts of vandalism sprees become more common as “the days grow longer and kids start to get restless.”

Anyone with information about the Pacifica incident is asked to call the Pacifica Police Department at (650) 738-7314 or the Silent Witness at (650) 259-4444. A $1,000 reward is being offered.

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