Possible senior prank disables school buses

Police and school officials in Prescott Valley were trying to get to the bottom of their own “Deflategate” scandal Monday after someone tampered with school-bus tires and disabled 66 buses that had been parked overnight.

In what investigators believe may have been part of a senior prank, the buses’ tires were deflated and the valve stems, a part that helps keep air in a tire, were removed, according to police.

The prank ensured the Humboldt Unified School District buses could not be driven and tow trucks would have to be used to repair the tires, said a police spokesman, Lt. Brandon Bonney.

The district on Monday asked parents and guardians to assist in taking kids to school, according to Dan Streeter, the district’s assistant superintendent.

Several hundred children were affected, and field trips were canceled, Bonney said.

The damage to the buses was estimated at about $3,500, according to police.

Officers were called to the school district’s bus barn at about 4:30 a.m. Monday after employees discovered damaged buses with “2015” painted on their windows.

Investigators hesitated to call the incident a “prank,” Bonney said, because the perpetrators face “extensive consequences.”

According to Bonney, they could face two counts of felony criminal damage in addition to charges related to the disruption of school.

Officials were able to get all the buses functioning in time for midday and afternoon routes, Streeter said.

Streeter said the district was reviewing security-camera footage.

Police asked anyone with information about the case to contact Prescott Valley police at 928-772-9267 or Yavapai County Silent Witness, which allows callers to remain anonymous, at 800932-3232.