Two boys were turned in by their mothers Monday to face charges for allegedly causing $50,000 worth of vandalism damage to a central Florida elementary school’s media center, investigators said.
The 12- and 13-year-old boys broke into Friendship Elementary School in Deltona on Saturday during the daytime and then returned at night to cause more damage, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. Deltona is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Orlando.
Video posted by the sheriff’s office showed a shattered glass door, overturned tables and shelves, shredded books and graffiti.
The boys confessed to the vandalism, according to a social media post from the sheriff’s office.
They were charged with burglary, trespassing, criminal mischief and theft.
Photo: A shot from the Sheriff’s bodycam footage of the vandalism. (Facebook/Volusia County Sheriff)
Brendan Lawler and Lisa Lawler, both of New Bedford, were charged with one count each of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Both appeared in federal court in Boston on Wednesday, according to U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley of the District of Massachusetts.
According to the charging document, prosecutors allege that from March 2023 through March 2024, the Lawlers solicited and collected insurance payments from their clients, which should have been paid to the clients’ insurance providers. However, instead of paying the insurance companies what they were owed, the Lawlers allegedly pocketed their clients’ payments and used the money for their own purposes.
To conceal the theft of client funds and to keep their company BL Insurance afloat to perpetuate the scheme, the Lawlers allegedly used incoming client funds to pay outstanding balances due to other clients’ insurers. Prosecutors further charge that the couple also created and distributed fake certificates of insurance, checks and other documents to clients that falsely indicated that the clients were insured.
One victim was an insurance brokerage in Florida for which BL Insurance had agreed to find insureds in exchange for a commission. The Florida brokerage calculated that BL Insurance failed to remit approximately $109,621.05 in payments from insureds for the 2023-2024 coverage year.
According to its archived website, BL Insurance identified itself as a full-service insurance brokerage licensed in several states, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, New Jersey, and Connecticut. BL Insurance purported to offer insurance for professional liability, general liability, commercial property, financial products, and personal lines.