Student Facing Up to 5 Years for Pulling Fire Alarm
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Student Facing Up to 5 Years for Pulling Fire Alarm

3/2/2011

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Deputy State Fire Marshals have charged a 14-year-old male juvenile with activating a pull station on the fire alarm system at Great Mills High School at 21130 Great Mills Road in St. Mary’s County.

The fire alarm pull station was activated by the student during a scheduled fire alarm drill, causing the alarm to continue sounding until the pull station could be located and deactivated.

Investigators along with the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s School Resource Officer determined the youth caused the extended alarm when he illegally activated the second pull station.

The juvenile has been charged with causing a False Alarm and was released into the custody of his mother. If convicted of this charge, he could face penalties not to exceed 5 years imprisonment and/or $5,000 in fines.

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sandrunner2Not Logged In
 3/2/2011 at 6:18 PM
a little harsh
we were all kids at 1 time wtf whats wrong with a little extra time spent outside
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amazingNot Logged In
 3/2/2011 at 9:40 PM
Lock em up!
Put this POS away, and send a message to the rest of the trash at that school that this behavior will not be condoned.
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builder50Not Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 6:34 AM
Reply to amazing: EXCUSE ME?
Hey "amazing" - With the comment you said about "the rest of the trash at that school" you are proving that you are amazingly STUPID! I have a child that goes to Great Mills, is in the S.T.E.M. program (I'll let you work out what it means) and is in 5 AP classes carrying a 3.9 GPA. And all his friends are doing the same or better. So before you make a blanket statement about something, stop and try to use your "AMAZING" mind before you post.
As for the "prank", I think having the kid charged and sent home should scare them enough to think twice about doing it again. If they do, them hammer them.
s0104Not Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 7:21 AM
Reply to amazing: Really????
amazing -- you really want them to give this kid 5 years for pulling a fire alarm? Yeah, sure it is wrong, suspend him but...jail time? come on!!!!! Do you not have kids? Would you want them to put your kid away for 5 years because he/she pulled a fire alarm? You need to stop commenting because you sound stupid!
njmd82Not Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 7:25 AM
Reply to amazing: a little harsh?
Don't you think you are being a little harsh the kid is only 14. All he did was pull the fire alarm not shoot someone or rob someone it was just a prank. I understand he should be punished but 5 years for this yet there is people in this county who have done far worse and they are still walking around free and continue to commit crimes far worse than this. Doesn't make sense to me???
goodoleboyNot Logged In
 3/2/2011 at 11:25 PM
A little excessive, don't you think?
That's great. Ruin his life because of a childish prank. Five years in the pokie and this kid will be a great contribution to society.
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amazingNot Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 7:55 PM
Reply to goodoleboy: He is already a POS
so, lets make an example of him.
Hang em!!
Crash_CartNot Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 8:31 AM
Really people???
Just because he FACES 5 years does not mean he'll get it. 5 years is what being convicted of this crime COULD get you. I'm sure he'll get quite a bit less. Hopefully, at the very least he'll get suspended for a few days and a good chunk of community service. But jail time...probably not. It is a pretty serious crime, though, prank or not.
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funnygirlNot Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 9:53 AM
Reply to Crash_Cart: Right on!
sentencing guidelines for adults don't apply to kids. He'll probably never see a court room. Hope he's learned his lesson though!
itstimeNot Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 8:58 AM
Face it
If he were selling pills or doing pills he would get away with it. Punish him somehow but up to 5 years in jail? Like I said, drug dealers would get away with a slap on the wrist, this poor fella is goign to get punished.
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NotBornHereNot Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 10:28 AM
Reply to itstime: Say what?
You really think drug dealers at school - a defined no drug zone - get away with selling drugs? Whatever, your head is in an obvious place. Pull it out.

Agree that 5 years is way too extreme for this. How about a 1 year suspension from school, during which time the kid must attend the Volunteer Fire Fighter courses at the tech center. Maybe if he found out how all this works he might appreciate the FF's more and realize how much danger a false alarm can cause. After a year of those courses he can start his high schoool over again and try and do it right. Putting him 1 year behind won't hurt him much.

That would be better for him than jail time or a huge fine that his Mommy and Daddy would have to pay for him.
RhandinNot Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 12:07 PM
Reply to itstime: Drugs in High School
I bought and sold a TON of drugs in high school. And I graduated. And never got caught. Public Schools are absolutely LITTERED with illegal drugs. It's so easy to get ahold of pills and weed, even coke. Crazy.
FYOUNot Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 12:51 PM
maybe
the student thought it was a real fire, and pulled the alarm trying to save classmates.

or, they just wanted to see what would happen if you pull it whe the alarm is already ringing.

Just a dumb mistake, 3 days suspension, move on.
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itstimeNot Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 3:32 PM
Reply to FYOU: Say what
I was talking about if he sells drugs in general NOT IN SCHOOL, in general he WOULD GET AWAY FROM IT, so pull your head out and stop taking OXY. I will make sure I make myself more clear next time.
mikeywNot Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 5:21 PM
Reply to FYOU: wow
Thank you FYOU.. finally a comment that made since after this story.. The fire alarm was already going off before the boy pulled it in the first place. So how can they charge him with causing a false alarm? The alarm was already false and going off.. Like FYOU said this boy could have been trying to save the day by pulling another alarm to make sure everyone knew..we dont know.. so mr. AMAZING your comment was sooooo ignorant its not even funny. Apparently your an extreme racist too. And a heartless soul.
DudeDudertonNot Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 1:25 PM
Real American Hero
Although 5 Years seems excessive, we all know this kid won't recieve max. This happened at least 4-5 times per year, when I was in High School. ha. You'd think students would be a bit more detered nowadays, however, with all the security upgrades implemented in the past 10 years. I can imagine how hard it must be to smoke cigarettes in the stalls these days :p haha. ahh.. they said i'd miss it... ha

So he pulled the alarm, during a fire drill?? hmm.. We salute you, Mr. The Alarm Is Going Off But I'm Going To Pull It Anyway.. <- (Ok.. so that doesn't work.. gimme a break here.)

$5,000.. Someone has alot of yards to mow.
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Ford_GuyNot Logged In
 3/3/2011 at 1:27 PM
HAHAHA.....
I just could not pass this up....Builder50..you have one of the few good ones, and I appluad you for that, but I wet to GMHS 10 years ago, it was a dump then, and is still a dump now, hopefully im outta here before etheir one of my kids make it to high school. And yes illegal drus......HS is one of the easiest places to get them......if not there just go next door to Indian Bridge apartments, or across the street to Lord Calvert.
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knaber4Not Logged In
 3/4/2011 at 1:16 PM
No Wonder
No wonder this student like so many others must think it is just a little prank to pull a fire alarm. The reason we continue to have these issues are those of you who see it as a misguided but understandable prank. Never mind about the loss of teaching/learning time nor the cost to having the fire department and sheriff's department personnel on site and away from more serious and demanding priorities. As long you continue to justify this behavior and minimize the needed consequences, these misguided pranks will continue. At the very least, this student should be expelled from Great Mills for the remainder of the year and let his/her parents figure out what to do with them. But then some of you will say, that is exactly what they wanted - to be out of school. That is true, but if they automatically fail the classes and have to repeat them, it might make them reconsider the next time the temptation hits them Regardless, stop making light of a very serious offense. This kid is old enough to know better. So are some of you!
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