An 18-year-old Scripps Ranch High School student accused of leaving bottle bombs that exploded outside the home of a school administrative assistant pleaded not guilty yesterday to felony charges.
Grant Sukchindasathien is accused of exploding a destructive device. Sukchindasathien is one of four students – two of them juveniles – who were arrested in the past two weeks in connection with the explosions.
Jared Robert Grano, 18, pleaded not guilty last week in San Diego Superior Court to similar charges. He, like Sukchindasathien, is free on a $60,000 bond.
The juveniles – two 17-year-old seniors – have not yet appeared in court. Authorities said their case is still under review.
Prosecutors say the four students detonated three devices made with dry ice at the school employee's home about 1 a.m. Feb. 19 and after midnight March 17.
The administrative assistant was home during the explosions, two of which occurred in front of her house; the third exploded in her back yard. She was not injured.
Deputy District Attorney Chandra Carle asked Judge Howard Shore to bar Sukchindasathien from returning to the Scripps Ranch campus while the case is pending. Carle also asked that he be prohibited from contacting any of the school's faculty.
The judge granted her request.
Carle said in court that the school had begun procedures to expel the four students. A defense attorney said Sukchindasathien already had been suspended from school for four days.
“This was a targeted attack on the faculty at Scripps Ranch High School,” Carle told the judge, arguing that it would be inappropriate for Sukchindasathien to “flaunt” his presence at the school.
If convicted of the charges, which carry a mandatory prison sentence, Sukchindasathien could get up to seven years behind bars, the prosecutor said.
“There is no room for error in cases like this,” she said.
Carle has not commented on a motive for the incidents. Authorities have said that the school administrative assistant reported she believed the explosions were prompted because of discipline the students received at school.
The grandfather of one of the juveniles accused in the case said in a telephone interview that the students “were out on a youthful lark” and had no intention of hurting anyone. He said the teens are all excellent students who fell victim to a group dynamic.
The grandfather also said the attention given to the case has been excessive.
Dana Littlefield: (619) 542-4590; dana.littlefield@uniontrib.com
