Micah Andrew Hines, 22, of Cottonwood, was arrested by Clarkdale Police on Monday, March 24, following an incident at Clarkdale-Jerome School. Hines allegedly made his way onto the school campus, hid in a third-grade bathroom and attempted to film female students. Hines then allegedly grabbed one student by the arm, who managed to get away and escaped the bathroom, before Hines fled the campus and hid in the brush nearby.
Students alerted teachers, who called police and locked down the school until the end of the day. Responding police departments also included the Cottonwood Police Department, Verde Valley Regional SWAT team, Yavapai Apache Police Department and Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office. Hines was later arrested and charged with two counts of kidnapping, two counts of voyeurism, two counts of surreptitious recording, two counts of aggravated assault of a minor, one count of trespassing and one count of interfering with an educational institution. He allegedly confessed to the crimes on Tuesday, March 25.
Clarkdale Police attributed the arrest to tips from informers who were able to recall details of Hines’ clothing and appearance and who responded to social media posts sharing surveillance footage.
Clarkdale-Jerome School District Superintendent Matt Schumacher held an information meeting at the school on March 25 at which he and Clarkdale Police Chief Randy Taylor confirmed that no students were harmed, although Schumacher asserted that one student said she was “traumatized” by the event and was seen by a school psychologist and crisis team. He also described Hinds as a “troubled” individual “who knew the campus well.”
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Hines is a 2020 graduate of Mingus Union High School, where he was a digital film student, and a member of the Yavapai- Apache Nation.
Schumacher also said that School Resource Officer Jakii Montijo was not on campus during the day of the incident, as she had previously requested the day off, and that there was no warning or “paper trail” related to the incident.
According to Taylor, Hines allegedly filmed no more than “five seconds” of video; the students involved were also believed to have been fully clothed.
Taylor also said that all electronic devices involved in the incident had been seized by the police, who were working on getting search warrants for those devices.
Schumacher said he would be pursing additional funding for safety improvements, including fencing, and would like to look at different types of fences, from chain link fences tobar fences.
The school may also begin requiring students to accompany each other to the bathroom and change bathroom locks while students are in class. In response to parent comments, Schumacher said he would look into procuring a backup school resource officer to cover for Montijo’s days off. Both the school and police officials emphasized that no one was hurt and that with every incident new lessons are learned.
