School Resource Officer Ellen Stewart of the Winslow Police Department walks Thursday to the entrance of the old Winslow Junior High School. The former school was recently the target of a break-in. Thieves allegedly attempted to steal copper wiring and piping from the nearly 100-year-old building, which has been largely unused for the past four years. Stewart interrupted the burglary, and two men were arrested. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

WINSLOW — Two men were arrested last month while attempting to steal copper wiring and piping from inside the abandoned junior high school building, police said this week.

The nearly 100-year-old former schoolhouse at 6 Danielson St. has sat largely unused and abandoned for four years since being replaced by the new junior high school down the street.

Two men broke into the building around 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 29, authorities say, to remove copper from within the building’s walls, bathrooms and ceilings, which were each fireproofed with asbestos-laden materials decades ago.

Codie Rice, 29, of Oakland, and Brian LeClair, 46, of Waterville, were both arrested and charged with burglary, theft and aggravated criminal mischief, according to Winslow Deputy Police Chief Randy Wing. Rice was additionally charged with possession or transfer of burglar’s tools.

Winslow police arrested the pair in the midst of the attempted heist, Town Manager Ella Bowman said at a Town Council meeting last week.

“The junior high got broken into, and thanks to the good work of our police department, they actually caught them in the act,” Bowman said. “It was a daytime burglary, and they had quite a pile of copper.”

The two were exposed to mold and asbestos while destroying ceilings and walls inside the abandoned 96-year-old schoolhouse, according to School Resource Officer Ellen Stewart, who arrested Rice inside one of the school’s hallways.

“They just started cutting and running,” Stewart said. “They hit three of the bathrooms, the third only partway. One of them ran; the other one, I got right here in the hallway. I don’t think he knew anyone else was in the building.”

School Resource Officer Ellen Stewart of the Winslow Police Department walks through a bathroom where thieves recently stripped copper wiring, piping and fixtures after breaking into the former Winslow Junior High School. Stewart interrupted the burglary on the morning of Aug. 29. Two men were arrested and charged. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Town officials considered demolishing the aging schoolhouse last year. The building’s ceilings and walls likely contain asbestos, according to a state survey, and oil has been leaking into the building’s basement from a number of underground oil tanks for years. The town held off on demolition in part due to the cost of remediating those concerns.

The schoolhouse sustained minor damage as a result of the break-in, Stewart said.

None of the wiring or bathroom fixtures ended up leaving the building, Stewart said, though it wasn’t clear exactly how much copper was removed. Winslow officers quickly removed the pile of wiring from the site to prevent other would-be thieves from taking it themselves.

The price of copper has risen drastically in recent years, increasing from about $5,000 per metric ton in 2020 to roughly $9,000 this year, according to data from the Federal Reserve.

School Resource Officer Ellen Stewart of the Winslow Police Department walks the hallways of the former Winslow Junior High School Thursday. Stewart interrupted a burglary at the school on the morning of Aug. 29, as a pair of thieves were attempting to steal copper wire and piping. Two men were arrested and charged. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

First opened in 1928, the old junior high school has sat largely vacant since the 2019-20 academic year when a new $8.1 million junior high school was opened down the street. Classes briefly resumed within the schoolhouse in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic.cops

Winslow councilors discussed earlier this year renovating the schoolhouse and building over 40 affordable housing units inside after voting down a similar proposal in 2021, though the project has stalled since being raised in April.

Rice remained at the Kennebec County jail in Augusta on a probation hold as of Thursday afternoon, while LeClair had posted $500 bail after his arrest, Wing said.