HOUTZDALE – Samuel Bonsell, 28, of Beccaria has been accused of burglarizing the Moshannon Valley High School and stealing the student driver vehicle, Clearfield-based state police say.
Bonsell has been arrested on charges, which include burglary, theft, criminal trespass and criminal mischief through the magisterial district court.
According to a previously-published GANT News report, a male suspect forced entry into the school at approximately 6 a.m. Sunday. Once inside, he removed a set of keys for the student driver vehicle.
After exiting the school, he approached the vehicle and allegedly removed its magnetic decals before departing the scene in the 2011 silver Ford Fusion.
State police say the suspect also stole a key for a 2006 Ford F350. He caused damage to the school’s keyless entry system and wire from a wiring harness.
Since the release of surveillance footage two days ago, state police received numerous calls with identifying information.
On Tuesday Bonsell was interviewed by state police and positively identified as the suspect. He was subsequently taken into custody for the incident.
According to WJAC-TV, Superintendent Dr. John Zesiger confirmed state police had recovered the student driver vehicle. He expected the vehicle to be back in the near future.
Zesiger said more than 70 sophomores will take the driver’s education class this school year. He said the stolen vehicle has only impacted a quarter of those students.
“We’ll send it in to be fully inspected and checked over before we put it back into student use,” Zesiger said. “I anticipate just this week will be the only inconvenience to our student driver program.”
