Police: Teen in Santa hat and pal stole daycare’s fire extinguishers

One 18-year-old wearing a Santa Claus hat and another with a “Carpe Diem” chest tattoo stole fire extinguishers from preschool’s buses not once but twice, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.

Alexander Fyfe and Grant Sullivan, the accused teens, got caught on tape both times they plundered school buses at Hands-On Learning Center, a preschool on Okeechobee Boulevard, according to a probable-cause affidavit made public Wednesday.

Sullivan, who bears the tattoo, confessed to police that he and Fyfe broke into the bus for the first time at about 9:30 p.m. Dec. 10 “to let off steam as Alexander was turning 18 and was upset,” the affidavit said.

After reportedly forcing open the bus’ driver’s window and stealing the $100 extinguisher, the boys emptied it of its contents, then tossed it aside.

Then at about 8:30 p.m. Dec. 22, they returned to claim more booty from another unsuspecting school bus. This time, they did so “in confident stride as though familiar with it,” the affidavit said. This time, they forced the bus’ main doors open. Sullivan squeezed his way in, acquired another extinguisher, got out, police said.

An officer came to the preschool the next afternoon to review the security camera’s footage. He reportedly remembered that on his way to the preschool he saw someone who looked like one of the thieves in the video who also was wearing the same black wrist guard on his left hand: Fyfe, it turned out.

When police showed the video to Fyfe’s parents at their house, they confirmed it was their son on camera. Fyfe told sheriff’s officers that Sullivan, who lived a few doors down, was the other guy in the video. Sullivan and his father went to the police station, where police say he confessed to his part in the crime.

Police charged Fyfe and Sullivan with burglary, grand theft and criminal mischief. Fyfe was released on his own recognizance and Sullivan after posting $12,000 bail.

Fyfe asked if getting arrested for felonies would hurt his chances to get into the U.S. Coast Guard, the report said.