Local man charged with entering high school illegally
CONNELLSVILLE – A Leisenring man charged with entering the Connellsville Area High School and hiding in an area over the girl’s locker room was freed Thursday after his family posted his bond. Eric P. Jensen, 19, of 1048B Highland Ave., appeared before District Justice Ronald Haggerty and submitted the required $10,000 percentage bond that secured his release from Fayette County Prison.
Haggerty reduced the bond amount from $10,000 straight cash after learning Jensen was in the process of obtaining legal counsel.
Haggerty said a stipulation to the bond that Jensen be evaluated by Chestnut Ridge Counseling Services, remains intact.
Jensen is charged with criminal trespass, burglary, defiant trespass and disorderly conduct in connection with a late Monday incident when he allegedly entered the senior high school and then hid from custodians in a ceiling ventilator overlooking the girl’s locker room.
According to police and school officials, at about 9 p.m. on Monday, Jensen entered an unlocked rear door that was being used at the time by the high school baseball team to enter and exit the building.
Custodians found him in an overhead crawl space above the locker room nearly 2 1/2 hours later.
After claiming he was looking for a misplaced wallet, school officials said the custodians allowed him to leave the building.
Building principal Robert McLuckey contacted Connellsville and school police after learning of Jensen’s location within the locker room when he arrived at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
The incident also prompted school administrators to return the senior high students to their homes shortly after their arrival to the building.
A search of the building by Westmoreland County Special Services along with local police revealed nothing was left in the school by Jensen during his stay.
Jensen faces a March 12 preliminary hearing before Haggerty.