ahaflich@gctelegram.com

Garden City police have arrested four teens in connection with the Menards vandalism incident that took place over the weekend.

Bryan Rios, 14, 601 Conkling Ave., Malichai Trey King, 17, 309 W. Olive St., and two 13-year-old Garden City boys were arrested between 10:54 p.m. Tuesday and 2:52 a.m. Wednesday on allegations of burglary, felony criminal damage to property, arson and conspiracy.

On Tuesday, the Garden City Police Department received tips from two people providing information on who was involved in the incident. Officers were contacted by one person with information and a second person contacted Crime Stoppers.

It is alleged the four boys were riding bicycles around Garden City when they ended up at Menards. The boys allegedly rode their bicycles through the inside of the store for a period of time before deciding to use a forklift to spill the paint and cause other damage inside the building.

According to the Garden City Police Department, officers responded to Menards, 1110 Lareu Road, at about 8:58 a.m. Sunday in response to a report about damage at the property.

The initial investigation determined the suspects entered the business through an unlocked door between 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday. According to police, the suspect used two forklifts to spill 86 five-gallon and 11 one-gallon containers of industrial paint throughout the store, damaging about 25,000 square feet of concrete flooring.

According to police, internal furnishings, including overhead lights, also were damaged, and the suspects also lit cardboard boxes on fire inside the building.

Wayne Frasier, superintendent of McConnell Excavating, Oberlin, Ohio, said that concrete crews discovered the damage and that while the doors were unlocked, it appeared that the suspects pushed open a locked door that was off its hinges.

In addition to the previously described damage, two support beams for the roof have been found damaged by the forklifts and may have to be replaced. One of the forklifts used by the suspects also sustained damage to one of its forks and its cage. Contractors are still in the process of determining whether the paint can be removed from the concrete and the total amount of loss is undetermined at this point, but could range between $30,000 and $300,000.

Frasier said they won't have an exact damage estimate until the estimator and structural engineer perform inspections.

Frasier said that his company's portion of the job was supposed to be completed Feb. 15, and if the columns and concrete have to be replaced, extra manpower and extra hours will be required in order to stay on schedule.

The four boys are being lodged in the Kansas Juvenile Detention Center.