Police arrested three Ansonia teens after they allegedly broke into and vandalized the Ansonia Public Library Friday night.
The teens — whose names have not been released because of their ages — were charged with third-degree burglary and third-degree criminal mischief.
They allegedly broke into the library through a second-floor window. Once inside they caused a big mess — and some physical damage to computers and a bench.
The vandals pulled books off several shelves around the library, and knocked over rotating bookshelves, according to Library Director Joyce Ceccarelli.
A computer monitor was scratched when it was knocked over, Ceccarelli said. And an old bench, used to reach high shelves, was smashed.
“I got the call Friday night,” Ceccarelli said. “I was upset, very upset. I got the pictures sent to me, and I saw them and I almost vomited.”
Ceccarelli said the library is open for business after workers spent two hours Monday morning cleaning up the mess.
She’s hoping to get restitution for the damaged computer screen, which will have to be replaced.
Police responded to the library on a report of an alarm going off at 5:25 p.m. Friday, according to Lt. Andrew Cota.
Police found a back pack at the library that led police to the suspects, Cota said.
The teens — who are 15 and 13 years old — told police they weren’t sure why they broke into the library.
Ceccarelli is still assessing whether anything was stolen.
“We looked around, nothing looks like it was stolen,” she said. “It’s hard to know if they took any DVDs. It’s going to take a while to figure all this out.”
