A Springstead High School student received a new American flag from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) after the one he displayed in his trick was set afire by another student at the school.
HCSO Deputy Public information Officer (PIO) Michael Terry said that on the afternoon of Dec. 13, a Student Resource Deputy at the Springstead High School responded to a report of a fire in a vehicle parked in the school’s student parking lot.
Upon arrival, several students told the deputy that they saw an American flag displayed in the bed of a 1977 Ford pick-up truck owned by high school senior Curtis Chancey had been set on fire. The witnesses also said they saw a student fleeing the scene after setting the flag ablaze.
One of the students jumped into the truck bed and was able to extinguish the fire which also included debris lying there.
The following day another Springstead High School student was positively identified as the person who allegedly set the fire. That juvenile was arrested and charged with arson.
On Dec. 15, members of the school’s HCSO School Resource Office (SRO) unit presented Chancey with a replacement American flag for the one damaged in the fire.
The case connected with the incident is pending.
