Pubdate: Thu, 08 Apr 2004 Source: Mesabi Daily News (MN) Copyright: 2004 Mesabi Daily News Contact: http://www.virginiamn.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2565 Author: Jim Romsaas Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) DRUG DOGS WALK HALLWAYS OF E-G SCHOOL 17-Year-Old Arrested In What Officials Say Was Random Search EVELETH -- Lockers and parking lots at the Eveleth-Gilbert High School were searched with drug-sniffing dogs Thursday in a combined law enforcement effort to locate illegal contraband. The search netted a 17-year-old Eveleth-Gilbert student, who was taken into custody Thursday for allegedly possessing a small amount of marijuana and dangerous weapons in his vehicle. Formal charges are pending against the rural Aurora boy after authorities from Eveleth, Gilbert, Virginia and Hibbing found the items in their search around 1 p.m., said Eveleth Police Chief Brian Lillis. The boy's name is not being released because he is a juvenile. After being taken into custody, the boy was interviewed and later released to his parents. The dangerous weapons were a folding knife and a box cutter, he said. While those items were found, he added, there was no reason to believe he intended to use them. Lillis said that it is prohibited by law to have any dangerous weapons on school grounds. The law has been on the books for quite some time, he said, but safety is being looked at closer with recent crimes happening at schools across the country. The search of the school facilities was part of a joint effort between Eveleth, Gilbert, Virginia and Hibbing police, he said, which included three drug-sniffing dogs. Lillis said students were in class at the time and were not interrupted. The dogs sniffed out no other contraband inside the school or elsewhere in the parking lots, he said. The search was random and unannounced, he said, adding that there was no particular incident that led up to it. It is a service that is now available, he added. "We may very well do it again in the future,'' Lillis said, depending on the circumstances. Principal Terry Bizal requested the search, Lillis said, and it has been in the works for less than one month. "We wanted to cooperate,'' he said, after the school decided it was something they wanted to do. The case will be submitted to the county attorney's office next week and include a delinquency petition, Lillis said, which is the equivalent to a criminal charge for an adult. The school may sanction the student, as well, he said, but that decision has yet to be made. A message left at Bizal's home Thursday night was not returned. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin