Picket line carcass caper turned over to game commission
McMURRAY – Peters Township police decided not to charge the four teens who confessed to spray-painting a deer carcass and leaving it at the high school where striking district teachers had been picketing.
Instead, police turned the matter over to the state Game Commission, which could fine the boys, all of whom are 16 or 17 and reside in the township. The fine for the summary offense is set by the district judge and could vary between $100 and $200, said Dan Sitler, wildlife conservation officer with the game commission.
The juveniles, who were identified through video surveillance and other methods, apparently found and spray-painted a doe carcass and left it Nov. 16 by the entrance of Peters Township High School. The animal, discovered by the school custodian, was painted blue with the initials “PT”. Police suspected the deer was killed by a vehicle because rigor mortis had set in and it had begun to emit an odor.
“It is a permit violation,” Sitler said of the desecrated carcass.
A representative of the Peters Township Federation of Teachers said he considered the incident to be intimidation, but police said it was a prank.
Peters Township teachers, who had been working without a contract since the start of school, returned to their classrooms Friday, following a 21-day strike.
Since the teachers and the district could not agree on a new contract, the impasse will now be decided by final best offer, nonbinding arbitration. Because the arbitration is nonbinding, both sides can reject it.
This means there could be a second teacher work stoppage, possibly in the spring.