News
Austintown Fitch Principal's chickens stolen
Did a high school prank hit a little too close to home for Austintown Fitch High School principal Chris Berni?
Tuesday, June 2nd 2015, 5:01 PM EDT
Updated:
Did a high school prank hit a little too close to home for Austintown Fitch High School principal Chris Berni?
Berni tells 21 News he has been keeping chickens at his Austintown home for the past few years to provide eggs to members of his family and friends.
Berni woke-up Tuesday morning to find at least five of his chickens missing, and evidence that this wasn't a simple case of birds who flew the coop.
"I found an empty Budweiser can on the ground so I knew right away a Raccoon can't open a Budweiser can and have a beer if you will. So I knew that there were some people there, and I believe that empty can was there to just leave the mark if you will," Berni said.
Principal Berni says he has a sneaking suspicion the culprits may be some of his own students on the final day of classes for seniors.
"99.9 percent of our students like other high schools are phenomenal kids who represent our community quite well. And it's probably just four or six kids who don't like what we stand for, or don't agree with some of the hard decisions that I have to make -- and this was their way of pulling an evil prank which was really a violation towards my family," Berni said.
But it wasn't long before some students found one of the hens alive and well near the school's baseball field in a burlap sack.
While Berni has at least one of his chickens back, there are still four missing. But oddly enough he tells 21 News this foul play or bad behavior has only served to bring out the good in others.
Several seniors and teachers have now offered to buy new chickens to replace the ones that are still missing.
Stephanie Waltman is a graduating senior and one of those students, "We heard what happened. We were horrified by it and we didn't want Mr. Berni to remember our senior class like that. We wanted to do something positive for him because those are his children's pets and we didn't want them to be without them."
Berni says it's pretty cool that his Austintown Fitch family is rallying around him. He says he couldn't be more thankful, but as far as those who broke into his chicken coup, he wants them caught and prosecuted.
"I found an empty Budweiser can on the ground so I knew right away a Raccoon can't open a Budweiser can and have a beer if you will. So I knew that there were some people there, and I believe that empty can was there to just leave the mark if you will," Berni said.
Principal Berni says he has a sneaking suspicion the culprits may be some of his own students on the final day of classes for seniors.
"99.9 percent of our students like other high schools are phenomenal kids who represent our community quite well. And it's probably just four or six kids who don't like what we stand for, or don't agree with some of the hard decisions that I have to make -- and this was their way of pulling an evil prank which was really a violation towards my family," Berni said.
But it wasn't long before some students found one of the hens alive and well near the school's baseball field in a burlap sack.
While Berni has at least one of his chickens back, there are still four missing. But oddly enough he tells 21 News this foul play or bad behavior has only served to bring out the good in others.
Several seniors and teachers have now offered to buy new chickens to replace the ones that are still missing.
Stephanie Waltman is a graduating senior and one of those students, "We heard what happened. We were horrified by it and we didn't want Mr. Berni to remember our senior class like that. We wanted to do something positive for him because those are his children's pets and we didn't want them to be without them."
Berni says it's pretty cool that his Austintown Fitch family is rallying around him. He says he couldn't be more thankful, but as far as those who broke into his chicken coup, he wants them caught and prosecuted.
