MASON CITY – A Mason City parent is furious after she said her son and another boy were arrested and charged with felonies after they allegedly pulled bark off a tree on school property.
Mason City police told NIT that a mature tree on the south side of Roosevelt Elementary School in Mason City, located at 313 15th Street SE, has a large amount of bark removed from it. Police said that the school reported on Aug 5, 2014, that “some juveniles are alleged to have stripped / removed the bark from the trunk of a tree. The bark removal was pretty severe; in some areas approx. 4’ of bark was removed. With so much bark missing, the tree is not expected to survive. The estimate to remove the old tree and plant a similar type tree was estimated to be slightly over $1000.”
Police said that two juveniles have been charged with 2nd degree criminal mischief on Aug 8, 2014. Criminal mischief in the second degree is a class “D” felony. Charged are: Parker Niles (13 years old); and Devon Barkema (14 years old). Any tree care expert Wichita would work well.
Juveniles court services is now handling the incident, police said. So far, the Mason City School District has not commented on the incident.
Naomi Wells, parent to Parker Niles, described the incident to NIT this way:
“My biggest complaint is no one from the school ever contacted the parents to see if we were willing to have the boys pay to have the tree replaced and maybe some community service at the school. Nothing, they just jumped the gun with out thinking how this could impact a 13 year old boy who was just being a 13 year old boy. Him and his friends hang out there all the time. And I don’t really have a problem with charges being filed just wish they would of got more than one estimate. Felony is a scary word for a mother to hear, when it involves her 13 yr old sin. I should not have to go through what I have for the last 4 weeks all because certain people don’t want to do any work or care about how their not taking the time to stop and think could impact a child’s life.
A 13 year old’s mind does not realize that by pulling bark off a tree, you are killing it and does not see a tree as someone else’s property. I’m not saying my son is perfect, but this is a child who has never had a detention and has gotten numerous positive referrals from his teachers.
On a Friday night at 9:45pm we got a call from officer Anderson telling us to bring the two boys in, to get them finger printed and mug shots taken because they were being charged with a felony, because the ONE estimate that Hal Miner got from Cutting Edge tree service (who school has all jobs done by) was $900, making total cost over $1000. I called Blanchard tree service and got an estimate of $475, that is a $425 difference in price, which would have made it not a felony charge.
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@Dillan Show me the proof that the Barlas family was in thick with Dalen and Rosenbladt and the other officials (name them if you are so sure of their complicity) you allude to and I’ll buy you lunch.
President Obama states he will be sending attorney general holder to Mason City to investigate this hate crime against this tree. Could result in civil rights violations..
@Doris A carry permit is not required on your own property, but it is illegal to discharge a firearm within the City limits. A bb gun is considered a firearm. Call the cops if it is “worry some”
Liberal think tank praise Amanda Ragan for her efforts to curb tree cruelty and commend her for investing in our tree future by contributing a half a million dollars of tax payer money !!!
Breaking news on ESPN Mason City junior high students tested positive for BARK they are suspended for the football season..
This just in the superintendent just hired tree security at the cost of $200,000.00 per year!!
It’s ok if 2+6 = 12. But pull some bark off a tree and that’s a felony.
Stupidity unchecked and you end up with our current leadership in this country !!!
I believe it will go away also. Only because a parent challenged the stupidity !!
No bark equals big bite out of crime !! Some real good decisions made here… What a joke.. The amount of money that these people make who decided these actions is sickening… School officials.. Police department… County attorneys office. Come on man get a clue !!!!!!!
Totally agree! Anita Michich doesn’t make much less than the superintendent of Des Moines Schools. Ridiculous how much money they make. They could care less about our students or their future. It’s all about the money in this slighted community.
This will go away quietly. There won’t be any charges. The tree didn’t appear to be in the best health anyway.
If these kids lived in Eastbrooke or Asbury, they would not have been charged. The police in Mason City discriminate against people and families that do not live in prominent areas of town. And God forbid. If you live on the North End, then you’re doomed.
If you think Eastbrooke and Asbury are the “prominate” neighborhoods in Mason City, I am guessing you haven’t driven around town since the ’80’s!
From what I have seen on face book and other outlets this story is now going national. FOX news, Glen Beck and others are contacting the parent(s) and the school district, as well as the MCPD for comment. Slow news days make things like this become national news, but the one good point is we will get to see Annita and Mike Lashbrook squirm in the national spotlight as they try to explain themselves…..hold on Mason City, this could get very fun!!!
@lyric stew-I would love to see that.
Let me get this straight. We have a kid who killed his Mother who will end up getting out of a mental hospital when he turns 18 (probably because the family knew the officials) We have an adult male who recently got off killing his father who was sent to Cherokee (which BTW you can walk out of that facility anytime you want) his family knew the officials/ judges too. Aaron harris who was a victim of mental health gets sent to prison forever. Not to mention Jordan Johnson as well.
NORTH IOWA AT ITS BEST!
Stay Classy you corrupted IDIOTS!
You can not just walk out of Cherokee. It is a lock down facility.
If the tree dies, they will have to raise our taxes another 10%
Then I hear he throws the dead animals up on the tracks! No wonder it smells when you walk by! Come on Mason City this is way more worry some than to little kids pulling old bark off a tree! And it too is within a school zone!!! Someone is screwed up big time!!
Another thing more worry some in the Roosevelt area.. Does anyone know who the guy on 18th st s.e. (I think it’s 325) That shoots his gun within city limits? Shoots birds , squirrels, rabbits, anything that walks or flies. It’s scary! We’ve walked by on the trail by the tracks on 19th st. And you can hear him when he shoots it!! It’s NOT A BB GUN! He has a pretty wooden fenced in yard area. I guess he has a permit to carry but still I don’t think it’s right to shoot it within city…
If you look closely at that tree you can see that the bark has already been loose and would have fallen off eventually!!!!!!! What if the kids would have been 5 or six years old? Same charges? This whole thing is ridiculous !! How many kids have done this in their lifetime growing up near the woods?? A lot! That person that turned them in is such a nosey bitch! I could understand if the kids were taking an ax or chainsaw to the tree but THE BARK WAS ALREADY LOOSE!!!
See the December 23, 2013 article on this site, Re: Iowa Ombudsman. How many Iowa Code violations are noted? Who has been held accountable? Did the law enforcement investigate and prosecute?
Exactly – By god we’re talking about a felony charge here , if they’re gonna call it a felony then holy crap they better get everyone that was involved.What a pathetic system.
Totally unacceptable to get the 1 quote and make such a serious charge as this. Totally unacceptable not to charge the other so-called unidentified boys
unless of course they were the offspring of some upper crusts parents , which never happens.
@HOLENWON-If it had been one of the elites kids you never would have heard a word about it.
It kind of looks like to me that the schools are getting fed up with pranks and stunts. Maybe they are trying to teach them something.
I agree with Good Question, worry about the bullying problem that’s started already this school year, instead of an isolated incident of removing bark from a tree.
Is charging a 13 year old with a Felony even legal?
I think these parents need a lawyer because that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. The 13 year old boy who killed his mother in Osage got less charge than this! OR maybe the boy just had a psychotic episode like, you know Barlas did. I’m thinking something is seriously suspicious about this.
Back in the day we used to give them a coat of paint and they did just fine.
NIT: We were told that this was reported by someone who happened to be on the track at the school. NOT an employee….the police report doesn’t give us any information since it has nothing but “x’s” where names should be….except for our childrens names and such….we have asked for a real report showing all information and also for the statements of those involved along with the Officers statements…were told we cannot get that without a Petition being filed so we are in a catch-22…
Noted, thank you. Keep me updated please.
get the tree wrapped as soon as possible and it might live, Ive seen this done before and it does help the tree from getting worse.
that they have been picking on for the last few years. I think more parents need to start attending board meetings and getting the schools priorities straightened out.
The penalty seems pretty damn severe for tow boys who are under age and have never been in any kind of trouble before. I would think if the parents can get the work done cheaper and are willing to pay the cost of replacement if needed (and I wouldn’t do that until the tree actually dies) and maybe a little detention for the boys would be enough for a first offense. Sounds like over reaction on the police and schools part. We let drunks and crooks off every day for a lot more.
I’m sorry but that is just flat out ridiculous. Charging them for ripping off a few pieces of bark? They didn’t spray paint it and they didn’t carve anything in to it, I think this is a little overboard. Instead of worrying about these two boys I think the school should more concerned with their bullying problem, I would love to know how it is that a group of girls could get on a bus this last Friday (that they do not ride) only to get off and harass and physically beat two other girls…
since the summer before 7th grade!! These boys are truly real good kids…..Our fear as parents is that this could show them being good doesn’t always mean anything & decide they should explore other not so good avenues!
violating the districts “good conduct policy” that applies to all student grades 6-12….so for Parker in 8th grade it could mean he can’t play football and for Devon in 9th grade & even though doesn’t play sports, he does have a 3.7 gpa and won’t be able to participate in any extra academics club or otherwise offered nor can he be a part of the anti-bullying council he’s been a part of
then when the Officer called me & told me the charges….I was blown away! I work for an Attorney who used to do court appointments for juvenile delinquents so if needed he will help us and our boys….since then and after talking to Hal Minear personally and was assured that this was an isolated incident so shouldn’t affect these boys at school….academically or otherwise..I got a letter stating my son was suspended for 28 days from extra-curricular and co-curricular activities for…
The other child involved is my son Devon and him & Parker came home and told Parkers dad and I about it and how one kid involved laughed about telling the cop Devon ‘ s name and lying about Parkers……but we didn’t think it would go this far until the next day when the cop showed up at my door! Even then I told the cop we would fully cooperate with the school and was told that he’d talk to Hal Minear & see what he’d like to do & it could just be paying restitution…..then…