Five people are in custody after police discovered about 300 people partying in Alta Sierra Intermediate School’s gym.
Clovis Police Officer Jim Monroe said police responded to reports of suspicious individuals loitering around Alta Sierra Intermediate School on Sunday, March 8 at around 1:30 a.m.
Alta Sierra is located at 380 W Teague Ave, next to Buchanan High School.
Partygoers fled the scene when police entered the building. Officers arrested five suspects, including the party’s DJ.
Police arrested 20-year-old Davon Martin, 21-year-old Saul Jandres and 20-year-old Matthew Duran for trespassing.
Alexis Carr, 21, and Sarina Garcia, 20, were arrested for trespassing and public intoxication.
All five of the suspects are from Fresno.
Monroe said large quantities of marijuana and alcohol were found at the party. The suspects also attempted to break into one of the gym’s storage closets.
The party left large amounts of litter in the gym.
Police believe people may have found out about the party via Snapchat.
Police are still investigating how the culprits broke into the gym.
Clovis Unified School District said in a statement, “We learned of the break-in from Clovis PD when watchful neighbors reported a disturbance at the school overnight Saturday. It’s terribly disappointing to learn that people from outside our community would break into a school gym without consideration for the potential damage to people or property for the purpose of holding a party. We are grateful for our community members, who serve as our eyes and ears when schools are closed, for quickly calling police. We are cooperating fully with police and reviewing security camera footage to see if it captured anything to assist in the investigation.
“Fortunately, the hard work of our maintenance and custodial team got the gym back to order in time for the community event planned for Sunday to take place as scheduled. We are operating as usual this morning and classes are continuing uninterrupted in the gym.”