Refrigerator Raiders : Homeless Teen-Agers Given Probation in 9 School Cafeteria Burglaries

Two teen-agers were freed Monday after they were sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to perform 80 hours of community service for breaking into two Granada Hills junior high schools and stealing food--including ice cream, milk and pizzas.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge Meredith Taylor also sentenced Mike Larkin, 19, and Mark Sarno, 18, to 46 days in jail, which they already have served since they were arrested April 7 in the cafeteria of Holmes Junior High School.

Desperately Hungry

The teen-agers, who said they could not find work and were desperately hungry, were charged with five counts of burglary and could have received to five years and eight months each in prison.

They said they broke into Holmes and Patrick Henry junior high schools nine times over a two-month period and always did the dishes after scarfing down food from the schools’ iceboxes. They said they used a pair of pliers and a pry bar to gain entry.

Larkin and Sarno said they committed the burglaries out of desperation after being turned down for countless jobs.

A McDonald’s restaurant had even refused to hire them, they said.

Part of the reason, they said, was that they did not have a permanent address since they were living in Sarno’s car after a girlfriend could no longer house them.

“What they got was fair because they didn’t steal anything although they had the opportunity,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Craig Richman, the prosecutor in the case.

“They even cleaned up after themselves and put all their trash in the garbage,” the prosecutor said.

The judge quipped after the teen-agers had left the courtroom: “I can’t even get my own children to do that.”

The sentencing ended Sarno’s and Larkin’s immediate ordeal, but they must still find jobs and a place to live.

Sarno said his girlfriend’s family in Northridge has offered to help.

The teen-agers do not have high school diplomas, although they said they plan to get them.

They said they left Mariposa, near Yosemite National Park, because there were few job opportunities.

They said they want to join the Air Force.

“I was so scared in jail because we were separated,” Sarno said. “We’re all each other has got now.”

Sarno’s biological mother died when he was 2 months old, according to a probation report. Until recently, he lived with his adoptive mother.

Adopted Son

Larkin was brought up by a friend of the family in Thailand after his mother left him, his probation report says.

His father was an Army captain, the report says. Larkin said he came to the United States to live with his father when he was 15 years old.

Taylor said she may exercise her judicial prerogative and reduce the charges to misdemeanors if they promptly complete their community service.

Convicted felons cannot join any branch of the military.