Woman arrested after allegedly vandalizing 2 schools in Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Colorado Springs police say Lila Gruss is facing charges after reportedly vandalizing and burglarizing multiple locations across Colorado Springs. Officers say there were 11 locations identified as being involved, including two schools.

CSPD confirmed two of the locations vandalized were the Galileo School of Math and Science and James Irwin Charter Academy.

Officers say this happened around 11:30 p.m. Sunday in the 1800 block of North Circle Drive. On Monday around 1:30 a.m. officers responded to the 1400 block of North Union Blvd. due to a burglar alarm. While officers were investigating the alarm they could reportedly hear a burglar alarm sounding farther north. While they were in the area, officers say they found several other businesses had been vandalized and/or burglarized.

“I believe there were a total of 14 windows that were broken at Galileo, and she did eventually end up getting into part of the building ... police were able to come and apprehend her,” says Devra Ashby from School District 11.

CSPD says while attempting to determine how many locations were impacted, a person matching the suspect description was encountered in the 1800 block of North Union Boulevard. The suspect was identified as Lila Gruss.

Gruss was taken into custody and reportedly confessed to burglarizing and damaging businesses. Gruss had been arrested previously for doing this to many of the same locations. Officers say some of the locations had extensive damage. The damage caused by the suspect will be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

“Right now we’re looking at a total of about $4,000 to $5,000 to repair all of the damage that did take place at Galileo, and while that’s not much, it’s still pretty significant when you think about what that money could have gone towards,” says Ashby.

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