Postgame vandalism in high school's hands

Police have closed their investigation into the football-fueled damage at Jefferson High School's Billy Ellis Memorial Stadium and decided to allow school officials to handle the situation.

Jefferson High School Principal Kevin Smith and East Jackson Principal Pat Stueck met Thursday night to discuss the vandalism and agreed to ask police not to pursue criminal charges.

"Instead, we're going to put our trust in Principal Stueck and East Jackson High School to handle the problem appropriately and hope that it doesn't happen again," Smith said. "We all just want to move forward and put this unfortunate incident behind us."

Jefferson High School Athletic Director Tim Corbett notified police after he discovered that five to seven football players damaged the junior varsity locker room they'd been using during the contentious Oct. 29 game, in which a player was ejected after a personal foul. Jefferson won 49-15.

The total cost of the damage came to about $100, and maintenance crews from both school systems repaired the remainder of the damage, Smith said.

A report on the inve