SPRINGFIELD — A 25-year-old man with multiple outstanding warrants walked into Dayton High School in Springfield on Tuesday and tried to pass himself off as an incoming freshman, according to police.
Carl Walden, a Union Township resident, walked into the school around 11 a.m., where he told workers his name was Jason Burns and said he was interested in enrolling, said Springfield detective Lt. Judd Levenson, a police spokesman.
School officials were concerned, because the 6-foot-1, 265-pound man before them was clearly not a young teenager, police said. To avoid conflict, they handed Walden a packet of enrollment forms and told him to have his parents fill them out.
Police were alerted to the situation, and they found Walden walking down Mountain Avenue shortly later, packet in hand, Levenson said. He was still wearing the Dayton visitor pass bearing the name Jason Burns.
Detectives are continuing to investigate why Walden was at the school, and whether he has done this at other schools in the past, Levenson said.
“The subject did not have any weapons, but quick thinking by school officials in calmly ushering him outside where police detectives confronted him reduced any possible threat that may have been posed,” said Springfield Police Chief John Cook.
After police stopped Walden it was discovered that he had outstanding warrants from traffic tickets in Andover and Sparta, and he was arrested, police said.
Walden was charged with criminal trespass, a fourth-degree felony, as well as disorderly conduct and harassment. He was remanded to the Union County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail with no 10 percent option.
Carl Walden, a Union Township resident, walked into the school around 11 a.m., where he told workers his name was Jason Burns and said he was interested in enrolling, said Springfield detective Lt. Judd Levenson, a police spokesman.
School officials were concerned, because the 6-foot-1, 265-pound man before them was clearly not a young teenager, police said. To avoid conflict, they handed Walden a packet of enrollment forms and told him to have his parents fill them out.
Police were alerted to the situation, and they found Walden walking down Mountain Avenue shortly later, packet in hand, Levenson said. He was still wearing the Dayton visitor pass bearing the name Jason Burns.
Detectives are continuing to investigate why Walden was at the school, and whether he has done this at other schools in the past, Levenson said.
“The subject did not have any weapons, but quick thinking by school officials in calmly ushering him outside where police detectives confronted him reduced any possible threat that may have been posed,” said Springfield Police Chief John Cook.
After police stopped Walden it was discovered that he had outstanding warrants from traffic tickets in Andover and Sparta, and he was arrested, police said.
Walden was charged with criminal trespass, a fourth-degree felony, as well as disorderly conduct and harassment. He was remanded to the Union County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail with no 10 percent option.
the effort
, always wearing a ball cap with a 5 o'clock shadow beard, fooling nobody, talking about "hey dudes, do you know who's got the dope? i really want to get stoned today."
