Marblehead teen charged with vandalizing Harris Square

SWAMPSCOTT – A Marblehead teen was charged with vandalizing the newly refurbished Capt. Jennifer J. Harris Square, which is at the intersection of Stetson Avenue and Essex Street.Brett Rome, 19, 22 Ruby Ave., Marblehead, was charged with malicious destruction of public property over $250, wanton destruction of public property over $250 and defacing public property.Rome was arraigned in Lynn District Court in front of Judge Albert Conlon on Tuesday.Essex County District Attorney’s Office Spokesman Steve O’Connell said prosecutors asked the judge to set bail at $500, but Rome was released on his own recognizance. Rome is due back in court on Dec. 4 for a pre-trial hearing.According to police, Officer Jonathan Locke, who was working a detail nearby, observed Rome carving his initials into the freshly poured cement on a handicapped ramp on Oct. 15.Detective Sgt. Tim Cassidy said Rome is known to police.?He also has charges against him out of Marblehead for tagging,” Cassidy said.Capt. Jennifer J. Harris Square is in the midst of being refurbished. The town received $250,000 from the state to upgrade that area and all crosswalks in the vicinity are being made handicapped accessible with new ramps. It is one of the new handicapped access ramps Rome is accused of defacing.Harris, who was the only child of Raymond and Rosalie Harris, was a helicopter pilot with the elite HMM-364 Purple Foxes. She was killed Feb. 7, 2007 during her third tour of duty in Iraq when the helicopter she was piloting was shot down by insurgents just days before she was scheduled to return home.Following her 1996 graduation from Swampscott High School, Harris went to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. and accepted a commission in the Marine Corps. After graduating from Annapolis, Harris went to flight school, which she graduated from in late 2002 and, after joining her squadron, it was deployed to Kuwait within two weeks. She supported troops in Operation Iraqi Freedom from February 2003 until Oct 2003. During her first deployment, Harris was the only female pilot and the youngest member of the squadron.