St. Cloud High School Principal Nate Fancher was arrested Tuesday in connection with "keying" a car in a supermarket parking lot last week.
As of Tuesday evening, Fancher, 48, was held in the Osceola County Jail on $1,000 bond on one count of criminal mischief.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by the News-Gazette, on Thursday afternoon St. Cloud Police responded to a victim who said her black car was keyed in the parking lot at the Publix on 13th Street and Old Canoe Creek Road, causing what turns out to be more than $3,700 in damage.
Store surveillance footage showed a white male with a shaved head was observed walking past the car, changing a shopping bag from his left to right hand, walk the entire length of the passenger side of the car. "On the footage, the subject's left arm is seen dragging behind the rest of his body," the report reads, noting the suspect looked back at the vehicle before walking off.
Officers tracked the subject in camera back into the store, and were able to ID him as Fancher based on store employees he interacted with while inside. The investigating officers learned Fancher is the St. Cloud High principal. An officer went to his home the following day. While Fancher was out of town, they spoke briefly, first through the Ring doorbell, then on the phone, when Fancher asked, "Is this about the car?" then advised he was out of town and would return Tuesday.
Tuesday morning, according to the report, Fancher returned the call, asking to contact the victims to pay for the damage, and offered to speak about the incident at the police department that afternoon. An investigator was told that, in between, Fancher spoke to a SCHS resource officer, admitting "he keyed a car" and asked, "How much trouble am I in?"
Following a brief interview at the station that afternoon, where Fancher was read his Miranda rights, then declined to make statements without legal counsel present, Fancher was arrested and taken to jail.
A St. Cloud High assistant principal sent an announcement to parents about Fancher's arrest Tuesday, not going into details of the incident since it was "a law enforcement matter."
