Police Respond to String of Incidents at Cedar Grove Private School

A Cedar Grove private school has been the scene of several incidents over the last two weeks, including assault, theft and a false fire alarm, resulting in several of its students being taken into custody by police.

Washington Academy, a private school housed in the old Leonard R. Parks School building directly across from Township Hall, serves students as young as three and as old as 21 with mild to moderate behavioral and learning disabilities. It first opened in South Orange in 1982, and moved to Cedar Grove in 1997.

Late last month, police dealt with back-to-back incidents at the Academy. On Monday, Sept. 26, police responded to a 9-1-1 call from the Pompton Avenue school reporting a disturbance around 10:41 a.m. Police found that a 14-year-old female student had assaulted two staff members, who sustained minor injuries in the assault, police said. The student was processed at police headquarters and transported to Essex County Juvenile Detention Facility to await juvenile court proceedings.

The next day, Sept. 27, just before 10 a.m., police again were called to the Academy, this time on reports of an employee's cell phone being stolen from her desk the previous afternoon. Police determined a different 14-year-old student was responsible, and turned him over to his guardian pending Juvenile Court proceedings. The phone, which police valued at $488, was returned to the employee.

Last week, another pair of incidents took place at the Academy, also on concurrent days.

On Oct. 6, police detained a 17-year-old student who assaulted a staff member, who was mildly injured. The student was processed at Cedar Grove Police Headquarters and transported to the Juvenile Detention Center.

On Thursday, Oct. 7, police again responded to the academy after receiving a report of a fire alarm. Police arrived at the scene to find the building being evacuated, but saw no smoke or fire. An investigation revealed that a 17-year-old student had deliberately pulled a fire alarm box to trigger the alarm. He was taken into police custody and released to a guardian.

All four teens will face charges in Essex County Juvenile Court.

Police Chief Richard Vanderstreet said he was not prepared to comment on the incidents at this time.

Calls to Washington Academy were not immediately returned.