Four arrested for spray painting racist graffiti at school

<p>Four teenagers have been arrested in connection with a weekend incident in which racist graffiti was spray painted on the walls of an elementary school.</p><p>Anthony Richard Larosa and Ian Ross Campbell, both 17, are being charged as adults. The other two arrested Monday are 16 and are being charged as juveniles.</p><p>The Cobb County Fire Department found the graffiti on Dec. 3 when they were called to Chalker Elementary School because of a fire in a trash container. There, they found racist graffiti that contained references to the Ku Klux Klan, Jews and a crude picture of a gallows.</p><p>The graffiti was removed before students returned to class the following Monday.</p><p>Larosa and Campbell have been charged with interference with government property and third-degree arson. They have both been released on $5,000 bond.</p><p>At the time of the incident, authorities said the incident would be treated as a hate crime. If considered a hate crime, the teens could face stiffer penalties.</p><p>But Cobb County Police spokesman Cpl. Dana Pierce said he was unaware of any additional charges under the hate crime statute.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cd9df4)</p>