Deputies Save Halloween For Elementary School Students Whose Pumpkin Patch Was Vandalized

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA (CBSLA.com) — The special-needs students at Robinson Ranch Elementary School in Rancho Santa Margarita almost did not have a campus Halloween celebration, thanks to vandals.

They smashed 20 pumpkins the boys and girls watered and watched grow on campus.

The fruits had been smashed. The vines were ripped from the dirt. One vine was draped over the garden gate.

The principal said two security cameras caught the vandals in the act, and they have been identified as two young boys.

Teacher Cynthia Shaffer said she used this incident as a teaching moment. "We're teaching that even though bad things happen that good things can come out of it," she said.

The good thing was a group of Orange County sheriff's deputies and the PTA made sure that bad memories left by vandals would not ruin the students' Halloween.

They set up an indoor pumpkin patch to surprise the students who got to pick out their pumpkins after all.