Two Arrested for Allegedly Breaking into Hollister High School Ag Barn, Killing Pig and Goat Raised by FFA Students
Above: Stock Image
“On February 6, 2024, San Benito County Sheriff Deputies responded to Hollister High School’s Ag Barn, located on the south campus portion of Hollister High School, concerning a burglary and animal cruelty incident. It had been discovered by High School staff, that during the nighttime hours, suspect(s) had entered the high school’s ag building, which houses the livestock for the school’s Future Farmers of America (F.F.A) Program. The suspect(s) entered the separated goat pen and pig pen areas, killing both a goat and a pig, The suspect(s) took one of the school’s wheel barrels to haul the carcass of the pig from the campus, and leaving the goat’s carcass behind.
The high school was equipped with substantial security measures, which indicated the suspect(s) had fled south of the high school campus towards the riverbed. Sheriff Office Deputies, Detectives, assisted by Investigators from the San Benito County District Attorney’s Office and Hollister Police Department Officers, canvassed the section of the riverbed the suspect(s) were last seen going towards. During the canvas of the riverbed, Sheriff Deputies, and Investigators from the DA Office located a makeshift homeless encampment, encountering a male suspect, who fit the physical descriptors of the involved suspect(s) captured on the school’s surveillance cameras. The suspect was confirmed on probation, being open to search and seizure. Deputies and investigators further found in the suspect’s encampment clothing consistent with the clothing worn by the suspect during the incident. Deputies and Investigators further found unexpended firearm ammunition and a quantity of drugs, both of which the suspect on probation is not permitted to have in possession.
Deputies and Investigators searched the surrounding area of the encampment and located the pig’s carcass hanging from a tree a short distance from the encampment, along with the stolen Hollister High School’s wheelbarrow. Two suspects were subsequently taken into custody and booked into the San Benito County Jail.”
