The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Teen faces criminal charges
Randolph Schilke accused of making false bomb threat
By Michelle Rogers, Editor
PUBLISHED: July 17, 2008
Randolph Schilke, 17, of Saline faces four years in prison and up to $2,000 in fines for allegedly making a false bomb report and malicious destruction of property after police say he wrote on a bathroom wall at Saline High School last spring.
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Schilke was arrested June 26 and arraigned by a magistrate the next day in Washtenaw County 14-A District Court. He faces a pre-trial hearing Aug. 25 in 22nd Circuit Court in Ann Arbor.
Schilke, who graduated June 1 from Saline High School, has been released on a personal recognizance bond, but with restrictions. He's not allowed on high school property, he can't possess a firearm and he can't use or possess alcohol, said Lt. Stephen Heller of the Pittsfield Township Police Department.
Heller said Schilke, who was a Saline High School senior at the time of the incident, became a suspect based on video surveillance April 30 at Saline High School and after a handwriting sample he submitted was analyzed and compared to the writing on the bathroom wall by the Michigan State Police.
Heller said the Pittsfield Township Police investigated similar incidents two years ago, but lacked evidence to bring charges. At the time, the school didn't have video surveillance near the bathroom entrance. Schilke is not a suspect in those incidents.
"We're going to investigate (these types of incidents) and prosecute everyone we can, and we're going to take them seriously," Heller said.
Schilke is accused of writing, "If they think they can search my car without retaliation, they thought wrong. Bomb. 5/1/08"
Heller said police were at the school April 30 conducting a search of vehicles in the student parking lot. He said a student discovered the writing on the bathroom wall and reported it to school officials.
The Questioned Document Unit, part of the Michigan State Police Forensic Science Division, analyzed a handwriting sample submitted by the teen and determined the first sentence was written by Schilke, Heller said. However, the reference to "bomb" could not be authenticated because it was written in a more artistic style, he said. Heller also said the State Police determined Schilke appeared to disguise his handwriting when he submitted a sample.
The teen faces a felony for the false bomb report and misdemeanor for property damage.
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